Shadow Hearts: Resurrection
by MisterNiku
Summary: A new tale in the Shadow Hearts universe, taking place some years after the events of From the New World, the cruise ship Matilda is attacked by an evil wizard and a new journey into darkness begins. OC's, maybe some cameos.
1. Chapter 1: A Night at Sea

Since I noticed there aren't that many Shadow Hearts fics with original characters, I thought I'd try and write one. I'm still working out the kinks so it may be a little rough, but hopefully it's alright.

* * *

><p><strong>Shadow Hearts: Resurrection<strong>

**Chapter 1: A Night at Sea**

The luxurious cruise ship Matilda sliced through the inky darkness of the night, across the choppy sea and the clouded sky, the light from the windows being the only illumination across the entire expanse of water. The ship was carrying members of the social elite to a very expensive resort island in the middle of the Asiatic sea, and the boat itself was catered to the highest standards, with emphasis on their wine stores. Which is probably why no-one had noticed that there were more than a few stowaways.

Except for one person, Dawn Tyler, who was mainly looking for ways to escape the ever watchful eye of her grandmother. The two of them were taking a walk across the deck in the cool breeze of the ocean, enjoying the calm of the night (and apparently unaware of the choppy ocean beneath them). Dawn was bored to tears with watching 60 year old men flirt with her grandmother, playing shuffle-board and constantly being reminded that there was a reason they were here.

She noticed the first of these stowaways in the unimpressive act of being violently sea-sick. His clothing was what made her pause, the blond hair and white jacket made him look somewhat angelic, although the severe problems with the boat didn't help his appearance. She couldn't see his face clearly but he was obviously having problems with the whole 'sea-journey' thing.

"Grandmama," Dawn started, keeping her eyes on him "Do you think that man needs help?"

"Honey, I don't believe we should interfere in the affairs of others" was the airy response, which meant, she had no idea what to do.

If you didn't know the two of them were related, it'd be next to impossible to tell that they were family. Grandmother Tyler was still a fire-cracker at her age, her grey hair still straight enough to pony-tail and her wrinkles under control enough to wear a t-shirt and chinos without looking ridiculous. She cleaned up at the old 'guess your age' booths at amusement parks.

Dawn on the other hand was quiet, her hair was cut short and dyed a deep red and tended towards loose fitting heavy black hooded tops even though she was quite slim. Her lack of presence was often attributed to the overpowering aura of her grandma, but honestly, Dawn just didn't like the limelight. She had no desire to be special, she was happy just living life.

Which is hard when you're an heiress but she tries her best.

Grandmother looked at the sick man once more before giving a dismissive wave of her hand and hurrying Dawn off

"Come on dear, we must get ready for dinner this evening"

"Oh goody, more tight dresses and old men perving on me. Great…" Dawn mumbled into her hood.

"You'd feel more upset if they DIDN'T ogle you" Grandmother pointed out, quite right. That would've made anyone feel worse. Although, as they were so used to it, they probably didn't notice that the sea-sick man was watching them quite intently. He may have been sick, but he was still alert.

-\ -o- /-

Dawn was zipping the back of her dress up when she heard an argument outside her room. It wouldn't have been noticeable except that the voices were noticeably younger than anyone she'd seen so far. Rushing to get a look, she opened the door and almost immediately wished she hadn't, as she appeared to have wandered into the middle of war-zone.

The most aggressive of the two was a young Japanese girl, about the same age as her, who was wearing a strange fusion of priestly religious gear that Dawn vaguely recognised from a cartoon she saw once and recent fashion trends with leggings ending in fairly large, heavy boots. She was hitting the other conversationalist with a paintbrush.

The second was a young man in a slightly battered leather jacket, the sleeves torn off at the elbows, wear and tear showing in patches across it. Beneath it he wore a red T-shirt and had a silvery charm attached to a chord tied around his neck. He had messy brown hair and quite pleasant brown eyes. Although they were routinely shutting with each hit of the paintbrush.

"How could you FORGET it! You knew where we were going!" The girl shouted

"I know! I know! It just slipped my mind, what's the big deal? I'll just improvise." The boy seemed to be failing to read the situation well since this prompted another round of abuse.

"You always say that! ARGH! Why are you such a moron?" The girl finally stormed off, leaving the boy alone with Dawn standing besides him. Finally noticing her he blinked once or twice before pointing towards the walking girl and asking, flatly

"Did you hear all of that?"

"Most of it, I think. What did you forget?" Dawn asked, genuinely curious.

"A baseball bat. She just gets really… y'know?" his smile was infectious and Dawn wished she could stop smiling back.

"Yeah, I can imagine… well, good luck improvising. Will I, umm, will I see you at dinner tonight?" Dawn felt her heart beating faster, why was her heart beating faster?

"Dinner? Oh! Right, ummm, maybe? Stranger things have happened. My name's Charlie, Charlie Anjou" He extended his hand and looked expectantly at her to shake it.

"Dawn Tyler, nice to meet you Charlie" Grabbing his hand, Dawn felt something… strange. Was she getting a crush on him? Oh god, that was embarrassing, that girl was so probably his girlfriend. She noticed him frowning, was she making it obvious what she was thinking? Letting go of his hand she hastily blurted out that she wanted to see him again, and she'd look for him at dinner before shutting the door and diving on the bed, wishing to die of humiliation now.

-\ -o- /-

Dinner was held in the main dining hall, a series of huge tables centred around a raised circular platform upon which stood the evenings' entertainment. A lavish spread of food was presented to each patron, the finest of meats and immaculate vegetables prepared to the perfect standards.

But Dawn wasn't hungry, she toyed with her quail (secretly yearning for chicken) and wondered where Charlie was. She couldn't see him easily. She had no idea how old he was, but she was 18 and he looked maybe a little older? Definitely not younger. Did he look like a younger version of any of the people around them?

A quick scan said no and she sighed deeply, alerting her ever vigilant grandmother to her obvious distress. Laying her hand on top of her grand-daughter's she asked as genuinely as she could in public

"Are you alright, darling?"

"I'm fine, grandmamma, just looking for someone" Dawn's answer clearly surprised her grandmother. But before she could inquire further, a spotlight began to shine down onto the middle stage and a man in a suit stepped onto it. The suit was odd, a purple and gold cummerbund laced with red and strange golden triangles on the lapels secured a red cape. Clearing his throat, the man addressed them with great plainness, almost rudeness and he toyed with a strange stick held in his right hand. His gelled black hair stuck to his skull and gave him a strange, alien appearance.

"Good evening, my friends. My name is Markus, and I am afraid that there is no island. We are simply here for the Key and we didn't believe she would come unless she believed it utterly safe."

"Oh no…" Grandmother whispered, watching as Markus drifted down and walked between the tables. Dawn squeezed her hand supportively, it would be fine, all he wanted was some key, probably to the ship's vault for jewelry, they weren't in any danger since they didn't have it. But what did he mean by she?

"Would you come with me, my dear" Dawn looked to her side, to see who Markus was referring to, but no-one was there. With a horrible realisation suddenly occurring, she realised that Markus wanted her. But why? She wasn't a key, she was just some spoiled rich kid! Already she could feel the people around her shifting their moods.

They wanted to just throw her to the wolves! After all, they were important people! They couldn't die. Her grandmother was glaring the crowd down. When it came to protecting her family, Grandmama was a firecracker alright, but could she win this one?

As it turned out, she didn't have to. With a few expert flicks of the stick in his hand, a series of glowing green balls of fire began to float around the room, followed by a sickening materialisation.

Bodies of water clambered up out of the floor, as if rising from the deepest ocean, the water slowly solidified into a drowned body of a sailor. Each face was unique, they must have all been someone in life. But now they all looked like a horrific nightmare brought to life by a madman.

"Bring me the key, do what you want with the rest" He announced, sounding distinctly bored as he did so. With a shambling cry, the nearest sailor corpse grabbed an old man in an immaculate suit and punched him in the mouth, the fist turning to water and flooding down his throat as it did. There was terrible series of twitches as the old man tried to breathe before finally slumping down into death.

Dawn was horrified, she'd never seen someone die before. It was… horrible. She felt tears running down her face as Grandmama dragged her away, they were running now as the monsters attacked the guests and shambled after her.

The hallways were long and richly furnished, but with every step, the water-logged corpses seemed to make the hall darker, the carpet a sinister shade of red and the lights dimmed. Dawn was vaguely aware her grandmother was running towards their room, when she saw her being grabbed by two of the watery corpses, one on each arm and all she could do was stare as they started to pull

"Dawn! Run! You have to get away, darling. Run now!" Grandmama pleaded as gradual pops began to sound out from her arthritic joints. Her vision still clouded by her intensified tears, Dawn ran and tried not to hear the noise behind her as the corpses finally managed to achieve their goal.

She had only gone a few more feet when she felt damp, clammy arms wrap around her waist and she screamed. The drowned face of the sailor loomed up at her as he rose from the floor, his empty eye-sockets gazing at her and a rippling layer of water covering him as he reached up to her…

And to both his, and Dawn's surprise, found his head caught in a rough hook and forced back with such velocity that it was separated from his body. Dawn watched the body fall, now headless and useless, and saw the strange couple from before. Charlie was armed with what appeared to be a shuffle-board cue and was smiling at the girl

"See? Improvised" He grinned, the girl simply rolled her eyes and bent to examine Dawn

"Did it bite you? I still haven't identified the species of monster, I don't want you turning into one of those things later on the mainland"

"N-no, I'm fine" Dawn stammered, her tears still falling freely as she remembered her grandmother. Charlie seemed to be looking down the corridor and could see what it was that was making her so upset. He rested a hand upon the Japanese girl's shoulder and announced simply

"I'm going ahead, Kaede. Take care of Dawn" before sprinting down the corridor, cue in hand and already preparing for a swing at one of the waterlogged bodies walking around the corridor.

"I swear, once this is over, I'm leaving that guy to find his own jobs" Kaede muttered as she pulled out a thin sheet of paper. With a deft movement of her brush, she marked it with what looked like complicated Chinese symbols and slammed it on the ground. A small bubble of cyan coloured water surrounded them leaving Dawn deeply confused as Kaede began examining her carefully

"No sign of an infection… I think you'll be fine. Now, your name's Dawn? What's going on here, do you know what happened?" The questions were gentle but obviously necessary. Dawn tried hard to clear her head so she could talk

"It was someone called Markus, he-he called me a Key. What does that mean?" Dawn's fears were heightened by Kaede's obviously confused reaction. Doing her best to mask it now, she simply shrugged and got to her feet.

"At any rate, we should go and make sure Charlie's alright" Kaede offered Dawn a hand but saw her looking down the hall to where her grandmother lay. Wincing, Kaede looked down again

"Alright, Dawn? I want you to chew this, it's called a Pure Leaf, and close your eyes. I'll lead you past it, then we can find Charlie and sort this all out. OK?" Dawn didn't know how she managed it but she nodded. Kaede momentarily wondered if killing her painlessly now would be the best course of action bur rejected the thought. They'd find another solution. They had to.

-\ -o- /-

Something was off. As soon as they entered the dining room Kaede sensed it, the aura's were shifting incorrectly. Preparing a sheet of spell-paper, she began writing a spell on it as Dawn looked around for signs of Charlie. The Pure Leaf was helping her keep her head clear, but she was still having to focus on anything other than her grandmother.

Her eyes fell upon a single shoe sticking out from under the table. It was a battered old sneaker, not the kind worn by restaurant goers. Hurrying over, she dragged the body out and found the battered body of Charlie. He was covered in water and looked in a bad way, almost dead in fact. Looking fearfully over to Kaede, she saw that she was being held aloft by a blue and green fiery hand. Standing besides her, in all his glory, was Markus.

He began to advance on her, a spring in his step and a struggling to breath victim behind him

"You know, I imagined they'd be stronger. I heard there was a real master wizard who was coming aboard today. But what do you bring me? A punk with a stick and a slow-witted Taoist? I think you should save us all some trouble and come with me, right now"

Dawn looked to Kaede for help but she was still trapped by that flaming green hand. And behind her, for some reason, was the man in white. He still looked sea-sick but he was also staring at her intently. Dawn gasped as she noticed what it was about his face that had looked so odd. His eyes were red. Was he the wizard Markus had been talking about? Was this man going to save her?

As Markus' fiery hand reached down to grab her, a chair suddenly swung and smacked him square in the mid-section. Gasping, he stumbled back and looked up to see Charlie standing in front of Dawn, chair raised high, and ready to fight.

"I won't let you take her, you bastard" He coughed, he was obviously hurt, but not enough to stay down it seemed. Dawn reached out to restrain him but recoiled, there was something in the air…

"You're still alive? Well, we can fix that soon enough you… glowing?" Markus suddenly sounded worried. As was Dawn as she watched the glow emanating from Charlie begin to intensify, drawing in wisps from outside and into his body. Charlie himself seemed confused more than anything

"What's going on, my head hurts… I feel different, I feel like I… Oh god, I feel sick, make it stop. No, NO! AAAAAGGGHHHHHH!"

With a sudden explosion and rush of air, Charlie's body was engulfed in the light and Dawn glanced inside as best she could for the intense rush of air. Whatever was inside that light, it wasn't Charlie.

It was some kind of monster.

As the light dissipated, she saw the rake thin creature inside. Covered in dark scales and with luminous purple orbs for eyes, his legs were now long thin prongs and his hands dissolved at the fingertips into wispy black smoke.

Markus raised the stick he had used to summon the monsters earlier, clearly intent on attacking Charlie with it. But, before he could do anything, he felt a slice and noticed his hand was lowering. And his arm was staying in the same position.

As the blood began to flow he screamed and felt the harsh impact of a fist smacking into his jaw. With inhuman movements, the thing that used to be Charlie struck at Markus with his fists and legs, the spikes of his feet slashing across the ornate suit and occasionally sparks of black smoke from his hands would fire off and singe Markus' skin.

With a final screech of victory, the monster that had been Charlie held it's palms forward and a surge of purple flame wreathed in black mist shot out and scorched directly through Markus' chest. For an awful moment, he wobbled on his feet before he collapsed, the hole in his chest smoking gently.

The Monster breathed heavily over the body before it's eyes started scanning the room. Finally, they settled on Dawn. With a slightly uneven stagger, it began to walk towards her. Kaede was across the room in a flash, slight burns still standing out on her neck from the green fire, and two pieces of spell paper clasped between her fingers

"Stay back, Anjou! I don't want to hurt you!" Charlie ignored her, shambling closer as he stared at Dawn, the dark energy from his hands drifting through the air. He was only a few feet away when he stopped, a strange sound like cracking glass emanating from his body. With a sudden burst of light, he tumbled to the ground, smacking into the floor of the ballroom, completely unconscious.

Kaede and Dawn stayed still for a few moments, not sure what to think. Dawn finally reached out a hand to touch him and gently pressed her fingers to his neck. At the very least, his heart was still beating.

But what had happened to Charlie? Kaede was withdrawing a cell-phone from a sleeve in her robe when they felt the first hint of a crunch. Sharing an awkward glance, the two girls realised that Markus probably had a plan to get 'the Key' off of the boat and that if most of the guests had been killed

With an almighty crash the boat hit land. Tumbling across the room, Dawn felt her head smack a door-frame and that was the last thing she remembered as she lost consciousness. The cruise-ship Matilda sank two hours after that, becoming a famed ghost ship in the region. According to the legend, there weren't any survivors.


	2. Chapter 2: Safety in Numbers

**Shadow Hearts: Resurrection**

**Chapter 2: Safety in numbers**

The music was what woke him. With a groan Charlie pushed himself off the ground, rubbing his cheek as he tried to remember what had happened to him, he'd stared down that guy on the ship and then-

Pain

He couldn't remember what happened next or how he got here. All he could hear was an ominous tune, it sounded like his heartbeat suffused with a strange roaring sound in the background. He rubbed his eyes wearily and dragged himself to his feet to look around where he was.

He seemed to be in a Graveyard, surrounded by twisted trees and a dark red stream flowing around the area. In the center a strange white tree seemed to be growing with shrivelled branches and dried leaves hanging off of it, it was pretty disturbing to look at. Around him, he saw 7 graves all standing proudly in sets, 6 of them had symbols etched into them but the 7th...

He approached it and rubbed a hand across the blank surface. Some faint indentations were set into it but he couldn't see what they were meant to be. Two gates stood away from where he'd woken up, one shut and bound by a plethora of chains but a faint light seemed to come from beyond it. The other had four scratches set into it that confused Charlie, they all seemed to be different colors.

This whole area seemed to be a strange composite of locations he'd been to as a child, the red stream looked like a brook that had been near his house when he was 7, the graves all resembled those of his old family members at the family plot. The only things he didn't recognise were the symbols on the graves and those gates. They were evocative though, whenever he touched one it sent a surge of emotion flowing through him. Generally negative.

Shrugging, he decided to opt for walking out the way he came in, since that stream looked distressingly like it was full of ephemeral creatures. He was walking towards a patch of mixed darkness and light until he heard a voice calling to him

"When are you coming back?"

"It can't be," Charlie murmured "It's my imagination" that voice was one he hadn't heard for years and he never expected to hear again, but just hearing it was bringing memories back in a constant flow that threatened to engulf him with every word.

"Big brother? Why won't you turn and look at me?"

"It isn't you," Charlie felt tears starting to trickle down his cheeks but kept his eyes locked forwards "I know it isn't, you died Kirsten"

"Big Brother, you mustn't be afraid of them" this last message was confusing enough for Charlie to stop his progress towards the exit and half turn to ask.

"Afraid of who?"

"YoUR mOnSTers"

-\ -o- /-

With one last placement, Kaede stuck the final talisman to the walls of the shack they'd commandeered. Using her magic, she'd managed to bring all three of them to the shoreline and after that feat of strength had even found them an abandoned hut to stay in. She'd dropped Charlie and Dawn to the sand and left them to fortify their position. Four walls, a roof and a floor of sand seemed a pretty good deal to her.

Finished with her magic, she rested against the shack's wall and found herself dropping to the ground as well. She knew that tip had been too good to be true, a beautiful heiress was going to be kidnapped by one of the dark wizards she'd been tracking. Markus had known they were coming and they would've been killed if not for that... thing.

She looked to the sleeping body of Anjou and wondered what the hell that had even been. The two of them had worked together for years, on and off, but he'd never had any level of magical power. And that transformation... he'd told her why he did this once, but she couldn't remember right now.

Either way, she kept an eye firmly locked on his sleeping body. Whatever that had been, it had killed Markus but she needed to know how he'd done it. And if she could allow him to live after such a feat.

There was a faint rustle of movement as Dawn opened her eyes, her hair soaked and clinging to her face. She seemed to take a moment to blink around the shack before focusing on Kaede across from her, the Japanese girl looking deadly serious and utterly exhausted. The brush still held in her hands, somehow brought back the memories of the previous night.

Dawn heard a loud scream, piercing everything and it took her a few moments to realise it was coming from her. She felt her face buried in Kaede's chest as the older girl crossed the room and held her close, muffling her cries of anguish. She felt the heat of her tears as she clutched desperately at any sense of normality by.

"It's OK" Kaede mumbled, forcing herself to be strong for this girl "Let it out, just let it out" It was some time before Dawn's sobs died down and Kaede could let her go. She seemed to have fallen asleep once more. Kaede checked the wards one last time before she too collapsed and slipped into slumber within their safehouse.

-\ -o- /-

_"What happened? Where is the Key?"  
>"Markus failed. The Key is either dead or in hiding. I knew we shouldn't have trusted this to such an amateur"<br>"He was one of us, show some respect. What I want to know is, why did you not intervene?"  
>"Me? I saw something that surprised me. It was enough for me to get out of there in one piece"<br>"Something flustered you? But you're-"  
>"I know who I am. But still. I was flustered."<br>"This is still bad news, the four of us are all that remains of the society"  
>"There is worse news. We have a Harmonixer on our hands"<br>"Heh, very funny, why is that-"  
>"A pure Harmonixer. Dark element"<br>"You have a talent for understatement don't you?"  
>"What are we to do?"<br>"If the key survived, he will be with her"  
>"Do you have any more bad news, or would you rather reveal it at the worst possible time?"<br>"It's fine, I'll see if the Key survived and kill the boy. For the good of all"  
>"For the good of all"<br>"For the good of all"_

-\ -o- /- 

Charlie sat up sharply and bit back a scream, rubbing his eyes frantically to remove the image he'd seen from them. He'd looked back and seen her, Kirsten, but all around had been. He shook his head frantically trying to make himself forget and got up unsteadily. He felt sick but he seemed to be human again at least. He walked to the door and tested the handle as gently as he could but found it unresponsive.

He groaned and tried again, still nothing. He shook it a couple of times and finally resolving that it was probably an old shack to begin with, kicked it violently. He hadn't noticed Kaede's wards all around the hut which would've explained why he couldn't open the door. It should have been impossible for a human like him but the door itself crumpled into splintered logs and allowed him to squeeze through.

Dawdling around to the side of the shack, Charlie realised he had to go to the bathroom but all he could see for miles was beach. After a brief glance around him, he unzipped and let loose a stream onto the side of the house. He heard a faint growling behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see a dog staring at him with a noticably irritated expression.

"Uhhh, sorry, was this your territory?" Charlie offered as calmly as he could.

Dawn and Kaede found themselves waking up to the sound of enraged dog barking and yelps, followed by thumps on the ceiling above them. Dawn dabbed at the mascara streaks under her eyes and noticed Kaede was looking in terror at the broken door. Her wards must've failed, but why had it broken outwards? What type of spirit could break a door outwards?

Having no time to think she darted outside, brush and spellsheet in hand with Dawn following as best she could in her impractical dress to look at the growling beast outside. The two did a brief double take upon looking at it, as it was quite obviously a chihuaha. A small one at that. Yet on the roof was Charlie, huddled away from the 'fearsome beast'

"What are you doing, you idiot" Kaede sighed, pinching her nose and putting away her spell-sheets

"It came outta nowhere! I don't know why it's so angry at me!"

"What's that smell? It smells like-"

"When you have to go, you have to go" Charlie said simply. Kaede looked disgusted, she didn't like to think about _any_biological function and that one in particular was too close to home if you read the ingredients of her spell ink.

"You're disgusting!" She snarled, grabbing the chihuaha with a firm embrace and shouted up to him "I'll take the little dog away but we're having words after this, Anjou!" while she was angry, a small part of Kaede was relieved. Somehow, she doubted fierce monsters peed against shack walls.

As she traipsed over the sand, Charlie slid off the roof and landed in a small heap on the soft ground. He glanced up and saw Dawn, quietly watching him. He noticed her dress, her hair and the tear stains which struck what remained of his chivalrous instinct hard.

"Are you OK? It's Dawn, right?" He knew full well her name was Dawn, but he didn't want to let on that he'd been thinking about her a bit too much. After all, he'd been willing to get in the way of that wizard for her and then...

"Yeah, I'm Dawn. Thank you for saving me"

"Oh, don't mention it" Charlie grinned "That's what we do, me and Kaede. Her with her taoist thingy-ma-jiggy and me with a blunt instrument, we generally take care of any supernatural terrors"

"So, you're used to this? This is... this is what you do?"

"Yeah, it's not that bad..." Charlie drifted off "Anyway, we should probably try and get you home. I'm sure your family are worried sick" Kaede was returning from across the dunes sans dog when Dawn finally blurted it out.

"He was after me! He called me a... a Key. Do you know what that means?"

"That you... open something?" Charlie offered "Honestly, I don't know but if you like... I'm sure we could protect you"

"What are you doing, Anjou? Are you making decisions again?"

"I can so make decisions! We aren't married are we?" Charlie replied hotly, but immediately cowered under the icy gaze of his partner "Or, uhh, you could decide. I just said we could protect Dawn since she's this 'Key' thing"

"Yes, I think so too" Kaede nodded

"Well, I was only suggesting I mean- Wait, you agree?"

"Of course, she needs our help. Now, on to more pressing matters. What was that technique you used?"

"Technique? You mean... I don't know. Honestly, I have no idea what happened but... it hurt. At first, anyway, it felt easier after the pain but I lost control. I think it puts stress on my psyche, I probably shouldn't do it when I'm mentally exhausted or freaked out."

"Can you do it at will?"Kaede asked, taking Dawn's hand carefully and drawing her back, her eyes still wary and looking at Charlie. Dawn seemed not to have noticed but Kaede had seen something that meant she was still uncertain. Charlie rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. It looked like he was going to try.

There was an intense light from his body, wisps appeared in the air and were drawn into him, Kaede recognised this as being remnant spiritual energy it seemed he was absorbing extra energy for the transformation. His face was the important part, one eye shut and his hands clutching his head

"Nnnggh, it still hurts but it isn't.. GWAAAAAAH!"

With a brilliant flash, Charlie was standing on the same thin spikes and his eyes replaced with glowing purple spheres. Kaede held her brush forward and waited for a reaction as Charlie breathed deeply in this new form

"**I'm still here**" he said, with effort "**There's a voice in my head, it says this is. He's. called Gallas. I'm gonna turn back now**" there was that same sound as before, shattering glass and the same white light as Charlie collapsed to the ground.

"I understand," he panted "Gallas is made of all the Dark element monsters I've killed, all their malice is just stained into my soul. Oh god, why is this happening?" Charlie heaved a few deep breaths into his lungs before staggering to his feet again, wiping the sand off of himself.

"Charlie, your eyes" Dawn started, before Kaede silenced her with a look. Charlie frowned, what had she meant by his eyes. He fished inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a small shard of glass he carried for an extra weapon. He dropped it in shock and backed away hurriedly.

His eyes were red.

"Arrrgh, what the hell! Why is this happening now? Did that wizard guy do this?" Charlie looked to Kaede and Dawn as he asked. Kaede seemed to think about it, why would Markus curse Charlie with a monstrous form? And if he did, why did he give him free will? She finally sighed, no point fretting about it.

"I think we're in Atami, I saw some familiar sights over the rise. For now, let's just work our way back to Tokyo before we decide on the best course of action." Kaede looked at the still freaking out Charlie and wondered how they were going to cope. An old ally with a terrifying new ability and a girl with no combat experience.

To her surprise, both seemed to have calmed down and looked ready for the trip. Charlie seemed to have, if not come to terms with this new development, regained most of his composure and was busy rolling his shoulders and cracking his knuckles. Dawn seemed to have clenched her fists and was looking bravely at Kaede to show her own preperation.

It impressed the Taoist wizard, to see that the two of them had overcome their fear enough to stand with her, she'd expected it maybe of Anjou but from the girl too?

"Let's get going then" Kaede smiled, starting the brisk stroll towards the small town followed by Charlie and Dawn. The beginning of their journey, observed by a mysterious figure in the sky sent to steal the key and destroy this new Harmonixer. As the trio started their walk, they're unknown observer smiled. This would be easier than they'd thought.

**Party So Far**

**Charlie Anjou  
><strong>Role: Harmonixer  
>Element: Dark<br>Weapon: Folded Chair

**Dawn Tyler  
><strong>Role: Unknown  
>Element: Neutral<br>Weapon: None

**Kaede Abe  
><strong>Role: Taoist  
>Element: Water<br>Weapon: Holy Ink (Navy)


	3. Chapter 3: Fusion Shift

For those who haven't seen other things I've written, I tend to try and add bonus 'Omake' stuff to the end of chapters like the party's formation or (in this instance) information about their weapons, I'm probably going to do more like a profile of Charlie's Fusions or Kaede's Spells as that was one of the things I used to like about the games, that everything had some kind of backstory to it even random bits of armor. So, yeah, I don't own Shadow Hearts, fan based work and all that, and reviews are welcome! I think I'm doing alright and any historical innaccuracies are intentional to be anachronistic :D

* * *

><p><strong>Shadow Hearts: Resurrection<strong>

**Chapter 3: Fusion Shift**

No sooner had they arrived in Atami than Kaede announced she had some business to attend to. Charlie protested, of course, but she couldn't be dissuaded, the Taoist said she would return as soon as she could but left them on a hill over-looking the river. Charlie suppressed his urge to chase after her and instead simply sat on the nearest bench. The looks from locals made him remember they probably wouldn't be too popular right about now.

It had only been 7 years since the end of World War II and the bombing of Hiroshima had left a mark on the world. Kaede had been with him when they heard the news and said that the world was so full of malice now that it was bursting at the seems. So, two white kids in Japan was probably going to go down pretty badly at the moment.

Dawn joined him slightly awkwardly, she wasn't thinking of the social implications, but was extremely conscious of her attire right now. A chic beige dress may look nice on a luxury cruise but in the centre of a Japanese town she looked ridiculous and out of place. Charlie noticed her look and managed to spectacularly misjudge the reasons for it

"Is this your first time in Japan?"

"No, I used to come here all the time with my Grandmam-" Dawn stopped, her eyes glistening as the memories came rushing back. Her silver haired Grandmama, the woman who always looked out for her. She coughed loudly as she held back the tears and immediately spurred Charlie into desperate action.

"I never got to meet my grandma. She died before I was born. My dad's French and my mom's British, but I grew up in England."

"It must be nice," Dawn sniffled "where are they now?"

"In the family plot" Charlie sighed "They were all killed. Monsters broke in. I was out, I came back and found the house covered in blood. My little sister, Kirsten, she was hanging in there, but she couldn't even talk. The last thing she ever said to me was as I was leaving." Charlie didn't need to carry on. What she said had been personal, private.

And he'd heard it far too recently.

He shook his head, trying to forget that bizarre dream and smiled to Dawn again, trying to cheer her up was harder than he thought it would be. Glancing at her clothes, he did his best to not look as if he were checking her out. The dress really was nice, but it was looking slightly the worse for wear... with a wince, he suddenly realised what may have made Dawn look so sheepish.

"Hey, I think I know a pretty good clothing store up that way. You think we should get you something more practical?"

"That'd be good, yeah" Dawn mumbled, trying to smile despite all this... craziness around her. Charlie got to his feet and held out a hand to guide her. Gingerly, she took it and tried hard not to blush as he lead her past a few peaceful citizens towards the store.

- \ - o - / -**  
><strong>

Zipping up the thick black hoody, Dawn smiled to herself and patted the pockets to make sure everything felt comfortable. She didn't have her phone, her purse, anything at all. But at least now she had comfortable clothes, _warm_clothes more importantly. She tugged back the curtain on the dressing room to see Charlie examining a wristband carefully, feeling bolder she strolled up to speak to him

"See anything you like?" She asked, smiling cheerfully with genuine happiness sitting at the corners. Charlie sighed and tossed it back into the basket he'd found it from

"Not really, nothing with any boosted components"

"You sound like your shopping for an automobile" Dawn giggled, picking up the wristband he'd discarded to look at for herself. It was pretty plain, black with a red tribal design on it. It fitted well with the rest of the shop, everything black with traces of red, and the man behind the counter with multiple piercings

"Well, some things have been treated or are made from material that gives us defence against monsters. Like Kaede's clothes, the robes are ceremonial but they're specially designed to repel evil energies. My jacket's got a bunch of protective charms stitches into the inside because I'm just a normal human. Err, was..." He corrected hastily

"Oh... am I going to be alright like this?" Dawn asked, suddenly considering the combat applications of jeans and jumpers.

"Yeah, you'll be fine, I don't think you're going to be diving at any monsters. We may need to stop by 'Delinquents'R'we' it's a business run by some old friends of mine. C'mon, they're just round the corner" Charlie lead Dawn out into the streets of Atami and weaved his way as politely as he could past the Japanese families quietly going about their business. The street was wide but quite busy until they passed a gap between shops. Dawn noticed a small bunch of people standing in the street but soon turned her attention back to Charlie.

Strolling into the side alley, Charlie paused to speak to a shady looking young boy with a band-aid peeled across his nose, a beanie sat atop his head an tufts of blond hair falling from under it. He wore a voluminous coat, thick and brown but bulging in unseemly places. He checked them both out briefly while his face stayed stoic and grunted when he seemed to decide they were alright, but still maintained an air of intimidation that made Dawn shrink back subconsciously.

"Whaddayawant?" he snarled, leering forward at the two of them. He might've been a little scary if not for Charlie promptly ripping the band-aid off his nose with a scowl

"Uh-huh, nice try Kyle, I know your nose is fine"

"Charlie!" Kyle whined, rubbing his completely cut free nose "You'll ruin my street cred!"

"Then you better serve me quickly so you can go back to looking tough. One bat and one shooter please." Kyle reluctantly nodded and began patting himself down carefully trying to find some sign of the items in question

"Sure thing. Is an Aluminum Bat alright? Lets see, shooters; shooters... I've only got a gas-powered BB Gun left, will that do?"

"Is your stock taking a dive? I guess we haven't paid you guys much lately to find stuff... I'll ask Kaede to send you more funds" Charlie gratefully accepted the bat off of Kyle and hid it inside his jacket as best he could. Dawn looked baffled by the BB gun but she at least understood why Charlie had gotten it for her.

Even if she wasn't very good at fighting, all she had to do was point and pull the trigger. It wouldn't be fatal but she could stop someone from hurting her and help if Charlie and Kaede needed it. Although, it did take some skill to be accurate, she'd have to work at it when they got a chance. She slipped the weapon into her belt and the bag full of pellets into her back pocket, she was worried what they'd need to do about the police but Charlie seemed confident enough about the whole thing.

"I guess Kaede's not back yet," he mused as they walked back out into the street, rubbing his chin thoughtfully "I have no idea how she's planning to get you home. Anyway, I guess you must have a bunch of questions. Is there anything you want to ask me?"

Dawn mentally forced all the questions about him and Kaede down out of the way. She wanted to know, desperately in fact, but she wasn't about to ask here only a few days after meeting him. Swallowing her doubt, she decided to ask about some of those things she'd seen until, that was, she saw a small crowd forming behind Charlie and some horrified whispers about a weirdo.

"What's that all about?" Dawn asked, pointing uncertainly at the crowd which now seemed to be retreating from someone in the centre. Frowning, Charlie walked towards it and found two people standing, face to.. uhh, face.

One of them had shortly trimmed hair and mismatched eyes, one blue and one green, and was now staring the other man down. He wore a light blue shirt, the sleeves rolled to his elbows and a navy vest over it. He looked very organised, and the top-hat on his head really sold Charlie on the 'magician' look. Even more than the white gloves. And the fact his shoes had spats. He looked very serious.

The other man was far taller and wore a range of dark clothes. Tight black leather trousers connected to enormous boots, an extremely dishevelled grey coat with no sleeves and open at the chest exposing the man's incredibly pale and incredibly gaunt body. He had long, straggly dark hair falling to his lower back. While Charlie and Dawn may have looked like dabblers in the 'hardcore punk' lifestyle, this guy looked the real deal. Especially as he had a pumpkin on his head.

The pumpkin had a face carved into it that glared down at the man Charlie was already thinking of as 'the magician'. The two seemed to be sharing a great deal of dislike for each other, the silence was broken by the magician who broke eye-contact to look at Charlie and Dawn

"Ahh, you two, won't you help me? This man is a dark wizard!" The magician seemed earnest and his announcement took Charlie aback, enough for him to draw his bat and shield Dawn. The man with the pumpkin head turned to face them and retorted

"I am the great pumpkin king! I am not a dark wizard! I'm just your every day, average man cursed by the devil himself! He's the bad guy, he's just fooling you with his abrakadabra treachery!"

There was a long silence. As far as defence cases went, that one was particularly weak. Dawn was certain they would side with the magician on this until she saw Charlie walk confidently up to stand besides the man with pumpkin head.

"He may be a little nutty, but I think he's telling the truth."

"What? You can't be serious, you believe he was cursed by the devil?" The magician looked incredulously at them, Dawn chewed her lip and wanted to speak up and ask Charlie why he was choosing to get involved at all until he replied

"I don't know if I believe he's cursed or whatever, but... he didn't try to get us involved. Now, why would someone ask two passengers to help with a dark wizard?"

"What? I-I happen to have been sent by your Taoist friend-"

"And that's too much information," Charlie announced, raising the bat to hold in both hands. "hope you have good health insurance"

"Heh... heheheh, unbelievable. For a kid like you to want to challenge me-" the magician chuckled to himself as he leant against a wall for breath "-it's unbelievably... stupid" turning to look again, Dawn saw a different side to the man in front of them. He looked somehow fiercer, his eyes gleamed in the afternoon light, one green as a forest and the other the deep blue of a lake. The crowd had fully dispersed now leaving Charlie, Dawn and the stranger alone with this man.

"I am Heart, the magician. As you may have gathered I used to perform on the Stage but now I use dark magic to achieve my goals. I still can't believe he let you get away," Heart grumbled pointing at Dawn "Now come with me, my precious little key" a small bolt of light fired from the tip of Heart's wand, only to be smacked from the air by Charlie's bat.

To his surprise, the light stuck to the bat and dragged it away from him and bouncing over the pavement in a series of hollow clangs. Charlie watched his weapon vanish and groaned at his own incompetence, of course it was a disarming spell, Dawn was holding a gun.

She was now pointing it at Heart but Charlie saw the tremble in her hands. Dawn was an heiress, the closest she'd ever come to violence would be spats with her friends of equal richness if that, the idea of shooting someone would never occur to her. She wasn't about to shoot a man in cold blood, even with BBs. Even as she held it, Dawn seemed to realise too, she couldn't do it.

Which left him one more choice.

A pale light began to emanate from his body, prompting a grin from Heart and a knowing look. As the rush of air roared past Charlie, he felt the change again, as intense as last time and the roaring in his mind from the monster he'd merged with began. As he the light faded, he growled slightly as the miasmic fog of his hands drifted upwards and he willed a stream at the enemy magician.

The dark gas streamed around a bubble of blue green light while Heart quickly doffed his hat and tapped it with a thin magic wand, clearly nonchalent about this transformation of Charlie's which worried Dawn even more even as she tried to force herself to squeeze the trigger.

"You may think your new found ability is intimidating, Harmonixer but unfortunately your people always have a flaw. One form, one element... one weakness" Tapping the hat, Heart tossed it down as it rumbled and emitted bolts of lightning. From within a huge white paw emerged and struck down, a second later another burst free and from within a creature the size of an SUV dragged itself from the hat.

The long ears ended in blades, the teeth were marked with arcane runes and it's claws were sharp and bared but that didn't change the fact Dawn was very obviously looking in terror at an enormous bunny. This monstrous rabbit looked down with it's double irised eyes and roared in a voice that sounded like humans screaming.

Charlie rushed it and lashed out with a bladed leg. It scratched along the creatures white fur but it seemed only mildly discomforted by the sensation. The sensation hadn't felt like he'd hit the flesh and he realised the creature had a barrier over it. It was one he'd seen Kaede use before, to repel Darkness. And it suddenly occured to him that she'd once told him his _own_elemental alignment.

With a roar, he threw both hands forward with the fingers pointing at the rabbit monster and a stream of purple light shot forth surrounded by the same black mist. A field of glowing light became visible around the beast and with another scream echoing a human voice, it released a wave that knocked Charlie backwards and burnt his flesh. Dawn rushed to help him up, flinching at the odd feel of his mottled skin.

"**What's happening? Why can't I hit it?**" Charlie tried to get to his feet and saw a boot in front of his vision, a coat flickering and an orange face looking at him after turning 180 degrees

"Mr Monster, I fear this sorcerer has more power than thee. But have no fear, I am the pumpkin king! And this rabbit has no doubt devoured a plethora of my allies! The noble carrot deserves a better fate!" the passion in his voice almost masked the utterly insanity of his words.

Charlie was about to ask the crazy guy to step back until he saw the glow around his hands. It looked like magic, but unlike the stuff used by Kaede and her allies. He'd mainly seen Eastern magic, but was at least aware that western magic relied on spells in the same way. But this guy seemed to be summoning the energy and shaping it himself, it was like a man communicating with telepathy instead of speech.

With a loud laugh, tinged with madness, his head spun around again and a flaming skull burst forth from the pumpkin with an explosion of seeds and pulp. The rabbit squeaked in surprise but was hit dead in the face by the flames and bowled onto it's back. It looked singed but still alive.

Charlie simply stared in shock, unsteadily balancing on the tips of his bladed feet with Dawn's aid. He nodded his thanks to her, not wishing to see if he could smile in this form, and noticed that the pumpkin had somehow regenerated in a matter of seconds. The strange pumpkin turned to face them again with the same carved face.

"The carrots have been avenged, Mr Monster. I should perhaps introduce myself. I am- Blurph!" The introduction was stopped by a runic circle appearing under the pumpkin headed stranger and trapping him in a pillar of water. He still seemed to be speaking but was unaware he should be drowning.

"I knew he'd be trouble," Heart grumbled, balancing his wand carefully "I knew it. I even knew I should have brought my mask. Over confident as always... Esquilan!" The rabbit seemed to spring back to life suddenly and opened it's mouth. Charlie realised what was coming, shoving Dawn out of the way he braced as a rush of intense light blasted over him

"**Gwaaaah!**" he screamed, it felt like the attack was piercing clean through him. He'd always been vulnerable to light but as Gallas it felt so much worse. Was his vulnerability increased along with his power? As the attack ceased he dropped to the ground, still smoking from the searing pain.

Esquilan, apparently the name of this Rabbit demon pounced and pinned him to the floor with it's claws digging into Charlie's shoulders. The light element of them sent waves of agony through Charlie's body making him scream again, thrashing to try and force the rabbit off of him.

"Charlie!" Dawn cried, trying to run to him, stopped by a blur of motion as Heart appeared in front of her. Moving like a snake, he lunged to grab her and Dawn suddenly felt her panic swell and her hands tighten by reflex. She hadn't been aiming, but the kickback helped her as the shot went up. The plastic ball spun wildly and sunk into the soft aqueous of Heart's eye with unwelcome abandon.

"Arrrrgh! You little-" Heart screamed, clutching at the injury. His remaining eye glared forward, glowing with an unnatural blue light. "You're going to regret that... I don't remember there being any need for you to keep your eyes..."

"No..." Dawn whispered, feeling her heart pounding in her ears. She was losing her grip, the terror of the situation, the man with the pumpkin head, Charlie's monstrous form and this man trying to kill her. She tried to force herself to calm down but she couldn't help it, he was there, she was going to...

"heehee heee" Dawn clutched at her head and started singing gently to herself "ring a ring a rosies.. a pocket full of posies..."

"Huh, I guess her mind just broke" chuckled Heart "ah well, I'll just buy a stock of pure leafs. It'll be fun to watch her... break. Over and over..."

Charlie was still struggling, calling Dawn's name over and over again but she couldn't hear him. If he didn't do anything she was going to be taken by this guy, he was going to torture her he had to do something. He had to, had to... he had to protect her!

Suddenly his eyes widened, he felt like himself again. He was still in Gallas' body, he knew it but he was human again and somewhere else... that place full of gravestones, surrounded by a red circle of flowing water. One of them seemed to be glowing, a pale green light. Gingerly, he touched it and felt emotions washing over him, seeping into him and he screamed.

The scream carried through into the real world as the light intensified again, wisps being drawn in with the sound of rushing air. Heart seemed to pause and turn, this shouldn't be possible. Harmonixers only have one form, the only one who could do multiple fusions was... it couldn't be him. He knew what had happened, they all did.

"Impossible he can't of-" Heart's words were interrupted by a high pitch screech as the Rabbit was thrown into the air. Landing on it's feet, Esquilan hissed but was struck from below by a rush of stones pelting it's belly. Heart looked towards Charlie and saw... something knew.

It had long arms, enormous bulges around the upper arm region, biceps developed like buds on a plant ending in rough approximations of a human arm and fists. The head was adorned with prongs like a stags but made of branches and the whole body seemed to be made of dark brown soil packed into a human's shape, dotted with leaves in places. The feet in particular seemed rooted to the ground and had no real form.

"Earth element? Impossible, you can't be..." Heart's fear was evident as he swallowed hard, looking into the eyes of this new monster "You can't be!" he finally screamed as he vanished in a burst of smoke. No sooner had this happened than the barrier around the pumpkin headed man vanished. With water streaming from his mouth, the man gave Charlie a thumbs up and shouted

"Veggie ally!" before throwing his hands wildly and slapping the creature with telekinetic energies a couple of times. The rabbit screeched, it's eyes glowing red and opening it's mouth for another beam attack. Charlie seemed to have other plans as he struck the ground with his fists. A wave of dust swept forward and dissipated under the rabbit. Before unleashing a sharp blade of rock directly upwards into the creature's belly.

It squeaked pathetically, red light leaking from the injury in place of blood and began to dissolve into shards of light, a runic circle appearing under it as it vanished. Charlie felt his body glow once more as he reverted to normal and ran to Dawn, still curled up on the ground gently singing under her breath.

"Dawn! Dawn can you hear me? Calm down, it's alright" He felt a lump in his throat, she was too new to this. Being menaced by a Dark Wizard had caused her to snap, he couldn't blame her. He noticed the pumpkin headed man walk over to join them, looking vaguely concerned about Dawn and curious about Charlie by the tilt of his head.

Charlie clumsily slipped his hand into his jacket pocket to find his cellphone and quickly dialled the only number he knew off by heart.

"_This is Abe_"

"Kaede! It's Dawn, she needs help, we were attacked and she's gone berserk, I don't know what to do-"

"_Charlie? Calm down, if there's nothing to scare her she'll restore on her own. Where are you? Kyle said you were outside his alley are you still there?_"

"What? Yeah, we didn't get far, just hurry!" Charlie could hear the murmur of the crowds returning and he didn't really want to explain what'd just happened. Scooping up Dawn he heaved her up, carrying her towards the alleyway where Kyle had been. The young boy had fled in the commotion, which only reminded Charlie. He turned to retrieve his bat but saw the pumpkin headed man held it in his hands. Collapsing to the floor, Charlie resigned himself to the fact the lunatic seemed to have taken a fancy to him and waited for Kaede.

- \ - o - / -**  
><strong>

The temple of Kaede's friends seemed a suitable place for Dawn to rest, sleeping on a futon with the sunlight shining through the red pillars, Charlie felt he was relaxed too. He was worried she wouldn't recover, that she was going to be like this forever but the monks had assured him she would recover given enough time. They seemed especially uncomfortable around him, but whatever, Dawn was alright that was all that mattered.

It seemed that Asia had a fairly good record of which exorcists were active, which was better than Europe, Charlie remembered the only ones you could contact were at the Vatican and the rest seemed to either drift to far-flung places or take care of one small area of their home country. Charlie smiled absent-mindedly to himself at the idea of being able to protect everyone you cared about with just a phonecall.

The pumpkin headed man was sitting cross legged on the boards of the decking and seemed to be enraptured by the flowers blooming. Kaede was approaching from the other end and Charlie decided to stop staring at the sleeping Dawn to pay attention to whatever Kaede had had to do that was so urgent.

He was actually a little angry at her, for leaving him with his newly developing and (frankly) terrifying powers with Dawn and no means to protect her. If it hadn't been the guy in the pumpkin they might well have been killed.

"I have news" Kaede started, folding her arms as she approached and giving the pumpkin headed man a curious eyebrow "And who are you?"

"I am the pumpkin king. Jack of the Lantern. I outsmarted the devil and now must walk this land eternally, illuminated by my pumpkin head" Jack turned his head to look at Kaede as he said this, the roughly carved face looking at them .

Kaede and Charlie simply stared at the man who seemed to be deadly serious about this, until he finally turned back to look at the blossom.

"... are you sure he is well?" Kaede asked, genuinely

"Not even a little, but he helped me protect Dawn. I think he can do what he likes" Charlie said pointedly. Kaede didn't like his tone but she was willing to chalk up irritation to his recent experience. Charlie was still too annoyed to mention his multiple forms or the changes he seemed to be experiencing.

"Look, I asked some sources to look into it. We can catch a flight to America from Tokyo, no questions asked, provided we deal with a problem when we arrive there. But before we do that, we have to try and find someone."

"Who?" Charlie asked, still annoyed but at least grateful they had a plan of action to get Dawn home now.

"Another person like you, a Harmonixer. They're called Yuri but that's all the information we have, other than that they're half Japanese and Half Russian. But it's strange... according to our sources, they have no birth record, passport, nothing. It's like their a ghost"

"So we're chasing a ghost? That isn't actually that strange now I think about it..." Charlie conceded, "You think they can help me understand these powers?"

"Hopefully. It seemed important to sort your problem first. None of the monks here know what 'the Key' is, but apparently Fusion is a lost art. The last practitioner died during World War II, almost 10 years ago. It's also an inherited skill. From Japan."

"Huh... well, maybe my grandma got knocked up by one? There were a whole bunch of rumors about my dad when I was growing up." Charlie shrugged "Anyway, thanks... I know you didn't leave me and Dawn alone on a whim"

"No" Kaede agreed "I didn't. Still, I'll make sure we stick closer together from now on"

"Hooray! Me too!" Jack chipped in "Together we can triumph against the evil wizards and their ABRAKADABRA TREACHERY! I'll show that old fool, Bacon..." he muttered under his breath. Charlie was going to ask who bacon was until he remembered that Jack claimed to be the pumpkin king and decided it was probably not worth hearing about his war on pork products.

Still, it was a novel way to avoid losing your grip on reality fighting monsters. Just let go entirely and go mad of your own volition.

Kaede and Jack started walking off to the beds the monks had prepared for them and left Charlie alone for a while. Watching the sun slowly start to set, Charlie thought he saw something from the corner of his eye. A flash of brown hair, and a familiar pony-tail but when he looked he saw nothing. It couldn't be...

"Kirsten?" he asked the air but in reply heard only silence. 

* * *

><p><strong>The Party so Far<strong>

(active party)

**Charlie Anjou  
><strong>Role: Harmonixer  
>Element: Dark<br>Weapon: Folded Chair

**Jack O'Connagh  
><strong>Role: Pumpkin King  
>Element: Fire<br>Weapon: Smiley-Face Carved Pumpkin

**Kaede Abe  
><strong>Role: Taoist  
>Element: Water<br>Weapon: Holy Ink (Navy)

(inactive)

**Dawn Tyler  
><strong>Role: Unknown  
>Element: Neutral<br>Weapon: BB Beretta

* * *

><p><strong>Weapon Information:<strong>

**Aluminum Bat**- Used to score a home-run in a softball game for a small firm. The firm in question went bankrupt afterwards and the winning bat was sold to 'Delinquents'R'we' for a good price. Still has the original wrap around the base.

**Holy Ink (Navy)**- A mixture of dyes with the urine of a virgin creates an ink with special properties and renders it able to create stable spell structures. The navy shade is popular as it offsets the beige of spell paper.

**Smiley-face Carved Pumpkin**- A standard Jack O'Lantern, wide toothy grin and triangular eyes, the one in question was carved by a child but the love and attention paid while being made outweighs the clear errors and slip ups.

**BB Beretta**- Based on the M 1951 model, the latest available, it fires small plastic balls inspired by a classic air gun design. The construction of the gun all seems terribly advanced for a group of street urchins but they refuse to reveal the source of their material.


	4. Chapter 4: Rice Paddy Nightmare

Just adding here at the beginning, a shout-out to Noelle Strife, for liking the story enough to get inspired into writing one himself. If you like Resurrection you'll probably like his too. As always, reviews are welcome, especially advice as I have no idea how good what I write is sometimes. Chapter 4's starting with some comedy and I never know how close to the games that is...

* * *

><p><strong>Shadow Hearts: Resurrection<strong>

**Chapter 4: Rice Paddy Nightmare**

Accompanying a farmer taking his goods to sell in Yokohama seemed the easiest way to get to Tokyo, but Charlie had started to take note of all the odd looks they were getting. Kaede in her robes seemed to be getting none of it, apart from a few strange "Why is she dressed in Chinese clothes" looks, which she must've been used to.

And Jack, well... if people _didn't _look at him funny he'd wonder what was up.

But him and Dawn seemed to be catching most of it, the two prominent white faces in a sea of Japanese, and the looks said everything. Restrained anger, repressed rage, they were keeping their resentment in check because of the American occupation but their hate was making Charlie distinctly uncomfortable.

He didn't know why, maybe it was because of his transformation, but he saw glimmers of red light shining in the air around them whenever he passed. He didn't really know what it was, but he had a good idea. Malice.

Malice was created whenever a great tragedy occured, and malice was the raw material of Monsters. Hatred, rage, sorrow all negative emotions congeal with natural conditions and spawn monsters. He'd heard different theories but that was the one that made the most sense. Monsters were made from people's hatred and thats why they hated everything.

He didn't want to examine what that meant for him.

Dawn had woken up on their first day of travel but she'd agreed to rest in the wagon for the duration of the trip. Charlie had felt worried about having her fight, she wasn't ready for all this yet. Plus, he noticed uncomfortably, that she'd shot Heart right in the _eye_and he didn't really want her panicking and blinding him. That was one of his pet fears, one of the few he allowed himself.

They were moving down a fairly quiet high-way and the sun was now beginning to sink below the horizon, setting the sky ablaze with orange and red. Frowning at the sudden change in lighting, he shouted towards the front of the cart where Kaede was walking. They seemed to have formed a convoy with Jack on the left, him on the right and Kaede at the front with the horses talking to the farmer.

"Hey Kaede! Are we stopping soon? Night-time travel isn't all that safe after three days straight walking"

"Oh, isn't it? It's almost as if in my 18 years of life I never noticed!"

"Yeah, 18, riiight" Charlie rolled his eyes and was completely unprepared for the rock Kaede hurled at his head.

Ignoring the downed man, Kaede hopped down from the carriage and scanned the area for a safe spot to rest up. Seeing a small village surrounded by fields, she noticed with distrust that the fields were all fully submerged and that might make getting to the village difficult. The farmer shrugged at her face and simply muttered

"The horses can manage, you go on ahead." The farmer's weatherworn face nodding at her. Kaede smiled and bowed as quickly as she could

"Let's go, you three"

"Arrrgh, my head's bleeding, why are you so mean?" moaned Charlie as he got to his feet, noticing Dawn's concerned face looking at him. His eyes darting from side to side he raised a thumb and said, as convincingly as he could "It's OK, a little injury like this could never stop me!"

"Spoken like a TRUE Potato!" Jack announced, slapping Charlie on the shoulder as he started wading through the Rice paddy towards the village

"Does he know there's a path to his left?" Dawn asked

"Lord, I hope not" Charlie replied, "That guy is genuine crazy..." helping Dawn down, the two of them realised they were holding hands and quickly let go, each blushing furiously. Kaede ignored them and started walking towards the village. This whole Exorcist business was never meant to be so complicated...

- \ - o - / -**  
><strong>

The village was apparently called Madanda, and the small arrangement of houses in the traditional style gave Kaede a few warm memories of her own hometown. They had the same collection of shifty glances that they always had but nothing that put them out, Kaede was just pleased they'd found somewhere to stay.

Finding the inn, she slipped inside and saw the old woman talking to an eccentric old man in blue. The conversation seemed to involve randomly selecting something and winning a prize.

"What the heck?" Charlie slipped in behind Kaede and saw the old man suddenly look at him

"Ahhh! Young man! Would you like to play the lottery?"

"Uhhhh, OK... Kaede, help!" Charlie was dragged away by the old man and left Kaede with Dawn and Jack to book the room. Kaede sighed, looked like Charlie was intent on being unhelpful. Approaching the desk, the grateful old woman asked how many would be staying.

"Four, two double beds please"

"Ehh! Double beds! Kaede, we can't, I mean..." Dawn's heart started pounding in her ears, sharing a bed? But she didn't even know if Charlie liked her like that, what was she going to do if he wasn't how he seemed or, or... they really should date first, how could Kaede just do that and-

"What's wrong? We share one and Jack and Charlie share the other."

"Oh." Dawn tried her best not to sound disapointed. Then blushed furiously at her own thoughts giving Kaede another bout of migraine. This was hard enough without two mysteriously magical people being hormonal!

Charlie returned to the party with a weird metallic loop in his hand and a confused look on his face

"Does this look like a key to you guys? He seemed really angry that he had to give it to me"

Kaede and Dawn looked blank, Jack's face was hidden by the Pumpkin but from his shrugging shoulders, he seemed not to have any idea either. At any rate, they had lodging. At Charlie's behest they ate a good dinner at the local Ramen store (where Dawn had to be taught how to use chopsticks the _Japanese _way, with much merriment from the locals) before retiring to bed.

Dawn and Kaede seemed to be a little awkward with the arrangement, but after a few brief conversations agreed that what they had in common (Thinking Charlie was OK if dim, that Jack was crazy and that they both had very pretty hair) was enough to think sleeping in the bed wasn't that weird. The conversation was a lot weirder with Jack and Charlie.

"Please don't mind my carrot"

"Oh god, please tell me you brought an actual vegetable to bed with you, because that is honestly less disturbing than the alternative"

Despite this, the two of them drifted off to sleep and Charlie found himself catapulted once more into his own dream hell...

- \ - o - / -**  
><strong>

That same eerie music filtered through his ears as Charlie felt his face on cold stone, lifting his face up to look confusedly around the room. This wasn't real, but why was his face cold? Sensory perception and mystical mumbo jumbo did not go hand in hand. Wandering around the gravestones, Charlie noticed that one was glowing with a faint orange light but he didn't think he should try touching it just yet...

Still, worth remembering. The air around the gravestone seemed to swirl and blow so maybe it was Wind Element.

Another glowed red, but only faintly.

This whole graveyard was confusing, it seemed to have all 6 elements and one extra grave (with no visible name) but as far as he was aware his Element was Dark. Kaede used to mention it a lot until she saw it was bothering him. He didn't like being Dark element, it seemed to go hand in hand with those who were REALLY evil. It just gave an affinity for evil magic.

The gates were another thing, the four indentations always bugged him. What was meant to be there? It was definitely something, but he couldn't work out what. And the tree. Walking over to it, he tapped the trunk absent-mindedly and heard the same hollow, slightly crystalised sound, he expected to hear.

He stayed away from the river now he'd realised what it was. The swirling red light... this entire graveyard was surrounded by a river of Malice seperating it from the darkness. He didn't really want to imagine how much Malice there was there, because he was beginning to think this whole Graveyard thing was connected to him.

He was still touching the tree when he heard her again

"Big brother, when are you coming back?"

"Stop it" Charlie whispered "Why would you pretend to be her?"

"I'm not pretending, big brother"

"Kirsten meant _everything_to me! Stop pretending to be her!"

"You meant everything to me too, big brother... you have to be careful"

"What?"

"The four of them are after you, they don't want to come back here... it's cold"

"What four?" Charlie turned and saw only a fragment, only a glimpse. Blood staining a pale hand with those fingers, so small, only a child's fingers. Kirsten's fingers.

"CoMe BAck soOn" she said, as everything around Charlie went black.

- \ - o - / -**  
><strong>

Screams were echoing from outside, Charlie's eyes snapping open as he got to his feet awkwardly, the dim light of the room was being created by a fire blazing outside. Scrambling to the window, Charlie looked outside and saw shuffling inhuman shapes rampaging around the village, tearing apart the villagers...

"Jack! Wake up, we have a problem!"

"Alright, give me a second to put on my face" mumbled Jack as he tugged on the pumpkin. Charlie hadn't even realised he took it off. The two of them stormed next door to find Dawn clutching the gun and point it at the door. Charlie immediately ducked while Jack seemed not to notice the danger of a young girl with a gun and extremely twitchy hands.

"There are monsters outside! I suspect Abrakadabra treachery!" Jack confided, Kaede had already donned her clothes and had her spell sheets ready, tucked into the sleeves of her robe. Dawn seemed to relax a great deal at the sight of it and put the gun down, relieving everyone.

"Me and Anjou will deal with this. O'Connagh, you protect Dawn. Do not let anyone near her!"

"Roger!" Jack shouted, a strange glow surrounding his pumpkin.

"Uhhh, just going to add. Do not let anyone near her _apart from _me and Kaede. And don't kill any humans"

"Oh... Roger!"

Slightly concerned, but deciding to pay it no mind, Charlie and Kaede rushed out of the inn and prepared to see what monster was assaulting the village. Back in the room, Jack and Dawn sat in awkward silence as the faint screams of fighting slipped through the window

"So... you like vegetables?" Dawn asked as politely as she could, unsure how this conversation was going to go...

- \ - o - / -**  
><strong>

The village was in chaos, the entire of Madanda seemed to be engulfed in flames. Kaede wasted no time in setting charms to the few buildings she could, spheres of water erupting from the paper sheets and extinguishing the flames. Charlie held his bat ready as one of the creatures started sprinting towards him. It looked like a blue frog person, a vacant expression on it's face and a single white dish on it's head.

Seeing the obvious target, Charlie swung his bat and with a loud discordant hum, knocked the creature down. Exhaling, Charlie got ready for the next one as it ran at him and tried to kick him. Moving to one side, Charlie swept the bat upwards and cracked the creature's chin before bringing it down once more, knocking the standing creature down onto the downed one. Only problem was they didn't seem to be evaporating into light.

Kaede seemed to notice his problem and slammed a charm down on top of the bodies causing a water sphere to engulf them. That seemed to be enough damage to make them explode into light. Charlie shouldered his bat as a few survivors huddled behind them

"This is taking ages... do you have any other big spells?"

"Kappa aren't a good opponent for us," Kaede mused "Water element means my magic isn't that powerful and your bat can only do so much"

"I could use my fusion?"

"No, you couldn't. The villagers are scared enough as it is"

"Get Jack down here to fight instead of you? Fire VS Water?"

"Then we either leave Dawn unguarded or Jack unsupervised"

"Damnit, alright, uhh, other options? Come on, Kaede, there must be a way to do this..."

"Find the source. These aren't natural monsters, someone's making them appear. There isn't a river nearby for them to live in so, logically, they must be coming from somewhere else" Kaede punctuated this by slamming another spell to the floor, a snake of water rippling out through the ground like a whip and throwing the Kappa into the air.

"Making them appear... from water?"

"Yes, I'd think so but- Anjou!" To Kaede's surprise, and anger, Charlie was sprinting away from the village. Where was he going? There was nothing there but... the Rice Paddys! Kaede felt a smile twinging her mouth. Nothing there but the empty Rice Paddys. Maybe Charlie was getting smarter after all.

Sprinting through the streets, Charlie took time to take swipes at the Kappa menacing folks but the whole attack seemed weird to him. The village was taken completely unawares, he hadn't smelt anything out of place walking up to Madanda which only made him more suspicious about the whole thing.

Bursting out into the cool night air, the navy sky stretching above him lit only by a smattering of stars, he saw something strange standing in the Rice Paddy. It was a strange steel device, manned by a man in khaki military gear. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his helmet was set at a strange angle and he didn't seem to be holding his rifle, simple sitting cross-legged.

"Weeeell, what do we have here" He sneered, his American accent a lot more pronounced than Dawn's. Grinding his teeth, Charlie folded his arms and shouted back to him

"Hey jarhead! These monsters your fault?"

"I was told to test this machine here, so that's what I'm doing. Ain't my fault that those Jap's gotta build a village next to it."

"Oh, so you're one of _those_soldiers" Charlie groaned. He'd encountered them a few times, the kind who killed German citizens because of the war-crimes of the Nazis. They saw no difference between acts during war and acts out of war. Everyone was a target. Only this one was somehow making monsters and sending them into the village, that couldn't just slide.

"You get one shot," Charlie shouted "turn the machine off before I get nasty!"

**"Heh, kid you don't know the meaning of the word!"**The soldier began to glow with an eerie light, a sound like shattering glass and suddenly a dark green skinned humanoid, with a single red eye was staring down at him. Charlie was genuinely taken aback by this, what the hell? He heard shouts from behind him as Kaede, followed by Jack and Dawn, ran to meet him and the monster.

"**Let's see how tough you are now**" the Cyclops cackled, diving at Charlie, it struck at his ribs. Charlie blocked as best he could but the bat bent under the blow, bending in half as he was sent catapulting into Dawn and Jack. Kaede carried on forward and used a spell sheet to summon a shield

"What the hell was that? Didn't you transform?" Kaede bellowed as blows rained down on her shield of water, wet thumps as each strike weakened it.

"No, he did! I thought there weren't any more fusion people?"

"There aren't! You're the only Harmonixer on record!"

"**I'll eat your skin! I'll eat your flesh**!" Screeched the cyclops as it started prying apart the layers of water exposing his face as he wrenched apart the shield

"First, you should eat... your vegetables!" Jack shouted, throwing both hands forward as a perfect sphere of light shot forward, surrounded by fire and exploded in the cyclops face into a Jack o Lantern shape. The spell staggered the cyclops as Jack clutched either side of his pumpkin and fired another blast, a flaming skull bursting forth and shooting at the Cyclops to knock it back and into the Rice Paddy.

"Uhhh, my Curse magic is weakening..." Jack mumbled "I didn't eat enough greens..."

"I have to fuse" Charlie shouted, ignoring Jack "any idea what element that thing is?"

"What? What does that matter, you can only become dark" Kaede stated, her eyes looking at Charlie as if he was made, even as she laid charms to keep the Cyclops busy with walls of water, summoned by the Rice Paddy. Dawn seemed to look long and hard at it before announcing

"He's Earth, so you shouldn't use that plant one." Dawn sounded confused how she knew this but her eyes were clear. Kaede made a mental note to raise this issue with her later. Charlie simply nodded and felt a familiar falling sensation, an orange light in front of him. He tapped it lightly and started sprinting towards the cyclops.

"Hey buddy! You think your a monster? Get a lo**ad of THIS!**" Mid-run, Charlie's body began glowing and drawing in wisps, a more complicated and powerful transformation than the soldiers. With a sound of breaking glass, a cacophany of wings began buzzing as Charlie leapt into the air and flew upwards, he looked at his legs, black and jagged with razor thin hairs lining them.

His arms had become short and multi-jointed, his eyes had compound vision but the biggest change were his enormous wings and the weight he felt on his back. The enormous stinger, striped gold, green and black in alternating colors. With a loud buzz, the wasp like fusion spirit dived down and slashed across the Cyclops chest with it's stinger.

Roaring, the Cyclops slapped the machine, causing a Kappa to appear. The monster had enough time to look confused before a rush of wind sliced through it and left the pieces to fall into the water. The cyclops snarled once more when there was a loud ping of a shot being fired and it felt sudden stabbing pain as it's eye was punctured.

Clutching at it's face in pain, the cyclops was caught completely unaware as the Wasp like form of Charlie landed in front of him and with a loud buzz, issued a bladed tornado at him by beating his wings rapidly. The cyclops screamed as it was torn to shreds, reverting with a flash of light to a bloodied and butchered human soldier.

With one last gurgle, the soldier fell dead, his blood leaking into the rice paddy and polluting the water. Charlie sighed, his voice sounding strange to his own ears, as he looked across to Dawn, still clutching her gun. Her hands weren't as shaky any more.

"**Dawn? Just a small thing but... please stop aiming for the eyes**" Charlie said, reverting as he finished, white light blinding everyone as the transformation ended.

"It just felt fitting" Dawn smiled, the very picture of innocence. Kaede exhaled loudly, wiping her brow, all those spells had taken their toll on her. But she had more issues at hand right now.

"So, you can turn into more than just Gallax?"

"Gallas. Yeah, there's an Earth element called Blyk and now a Wind element called Suzuring." Charlie explained, slightly awkwardly. He remembered now that he hadn't mentioned this to Kaede yet.

"Didn't you think this was worth mentioning to me?" Kaede asked, her voice dripping with icy anger.

"It slipped my mind, sorry." Charlie said, genuinely apologetic. Kaede stared long and hard at him before snorting

"Whatever." and promptly leaving. Charlie called after her briefly but stopped as she passed from view into the town. She'd seemed really angry... angrier than he'd ever seen her. Charlie sighed, this whole thing was getting so out of hand. He glanced at Dawn and saw she too looked concerned. Smiling weakly at her, Charlie helped Jack to his feet as they returned to the inn, intent on getting as much sleep as possible before tomorrow.

Nobody said anything about the soldier. Or about how he'd managed to learn the forgotten art of fusion. Maybe they were afraid to?

* * *

><p><strong>The Party so Far<strong>

(active party)

**Charlie Anjou  
><strong>Role: Harmonixer  
>Element: Dark<br>Weapon: Broken Aluminum Bat

**Jack O'Connagh  
><strong>Role: Pumpkin King  
>Element: Fire<br>Weapon: Smiley-Face Carved Pumpkin

**Dawn Tyler  
><strong>Role: Unknown  
>Element: Neutral<br>Weapon: BB Beretta

(inactive)

**Kaede Abe  
><strong>Role: Taoist  
>Element: Water<br>Weapon: Holy Ink (Navy)

**Fusion Information:**

**Gallas:**An elementary fusion of Darkness, with wisps of evil energy coming from his finger tips, his primary usage is as magical attacker. Gallas is a hunter who seeks out lost souls to consume, forged by the goddess of Death herself, his evil energy suffuses the air itself.

**Blyk: **An elementary fusion of Earth, with branches forming his horns, his high special defence makes him useful against magical opponents. Blyk is a nature spirit, sworn to protect the forest he resides in, with sharpened roots and storms of stone, he smites tresspassers.

**Suzuring:**An elementary fusion of Wind, an enormous poison stinger for it's back and glistening wings, it's speed and evasion are second to none. Suzuring has a hive mentality, seeking to protect the hive through vicious poisonous assaults and bladed wings.


	5. Chapter 5: True Friends

Wow, it's been a while. OK, this time shout out to leavingyouforme for some really constructive criticism. I tried to work on the stuff mentioned, like being more descriptive and grammar and stuff. But yeah, this one was one of those plot heavy ones so I had a hard time making it funny. Hope it's alright, as always criticisms and reviews are welcome, I don't own Shadow Hearts, work of Fan Fiction. And finally did some monster descriptions :D see you guys soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Shadow Hearts: Resurrection<strong>

**Chapter 5: True Friends**

The constant drizzle of rain did nothing to mend the team's spirit. Kaede still refused to speak to Charlie, Jack seemed to have gone from manic to depressed with the shifting weather and Dawn was reaching the limits of her endurance. Charlie was starting to worry that they wouldn't even reach Yokohama at this rate.

Jack was walking near the back of the cart, Kaede at the front and Dawn was resting inside with the alarmingly unphased farmer. His entire reaction to the Kappa invasion when asked had been "I was surprised". It was actually pretty worrying, he must have a higher SP count than Charlie himself.

The flooded rice paddies to either side of the road were all full of dark water, occasionally splattered by the rain-fall creating a dappled sheen of water. The muddy brown of the path was now threatening to completely cover Charlie's shoes and the unrelenting grey of the sky just made it feel oppressive to look up.

Realising that he was genuinely starting to feel down just from thinking about the location, he resolved to try and raise everyone's spirits. Especially Kaede's, he was pretty anxious to make up with her. He'd annoyed her in the past. Quite frequently in fact. But she'd never been this angry with him.

Drifting towards the front of their convoy, he looked to see Kaede almost marching to keep pace, completely ignoring her surroundings. Trying to look as casual as possible, Charlie increased his pace to try and walk alongside her. He managed to match her just in time for her to turn and look at him, her eyes still glaring and fierce.

"Go away" she said. Her voice gave no room for argument as Charlie's pace slowed until he was standing still, the caravan rumbling past him as he tried to make sense of how he was feeling. Kaede was still angry at him, even after a few days of sleep. Had he messed up that bad? By not telling her had he broken some secret integral ingredient to their friendship.

Shaking it off, he started walking again, this time pulling up level with Jack. The pumpkin headed man also seemed to be down in the dumps, while it wasn't like he was in a good condition himself, Charlie tried to start a conversation to see if he could cheer up the poor guy

"How's it going Jack? Not feeling very potato-ey?"

"When it rains, I feel the madness lessening." Jack murmured "I remember my old life, all those years ago. It won't last. While I can, I thank you for allowing me to travel with you, they seem interested in you and the girl so I wish to help. You're truly a carrot"

At the last few words, the rain seemed to cease and an unhinged tone returned to Jack's voice. His eyes widened once more and he looked curiously at Charlie once more as if viewing him again for the first time

"What ails you my green friend?" He asked, long fingers pointing at him curiously. Charlie opened his mouth briefly to reply before he realised that Jack was back to his usual self. What had he been saying? Was he telling the truth or was he just as crazy as he always thought?

Awkwardly, and with an uncertain heart, Charlie walked faster to get past Jack and leaned into the wagon to check on Dawn. Fast asleep. He sighed, slightly relieved. He didn't know how he felt about her, to be honest. He thought she was pretty, maybe even beautiful, but with all the danger she was facing... would it be right for a monster to try and romance her?

And despite how he acted, he _was_a monster now wasn't he?

Even as the sun emerged from the clouds and Yokohama came into view, he felt concern deep in his chest. Kaede was still angry at him, Jack was clearly insane and Dawn was getting exhausted. What was he going to do?

-\ -o- /-

_"You don't look well, Heart"  
>"More than one, he has more than one!"<br>"What is he babbling about?"  
>"THE BOY HAS MORE THAN ONE ELEMENT!"<br>"Oh, well, that is impossible. You must be mistaken"  
>"I know what I saw, you green fool!"<br>"Look, even if he has more than one element to fuse into, it doesn't mean he's like him, you know where he is now"  
>"No... no, you're right. I should have stayed longer"<br>"Don't worry. We'll handle this. But just in case... contact him"  
>"Who?"<br>"You know who, our brother. I'm sure he'll want to know if this is who you believe it to be"  
>"But why not just ask <em>_**him **__to deal with it?"  
>"If you want to ask him, be my guest. Come Club."<em>

-\ -o- /-

The setting sun cast a flaming glare across the calm sea of Japan and glinted off the steel monoliths that were the American boats in the harbour. The farmer bid the party his farewells before trundling along the road towards his destination.

Kaede sniffed the scent of sea-air, closing her eyes momentarily to enjoy the salty breeze, before opening them and announcing  
>"I am leaving"<p>

"What?" Charlie squeaked "Kaede, you can't! I'm sorry-" but even as he spoke she was starting to walk, Dawn and Jack looking anxiously on as Charlie ran up to catch her shoulder

"Kaede, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't know it was important! I thought Harmonixers could all turn into different monsters"

"Get off me" Kaede growled "As if I'd believe you just forgot? You're changing, Charles." Charlie winced at being called his full name but said nothing as Kaede turned to look at him, her eyes glistening "I can't stay here and watch you turn into a monster. How long until we wake up and find some monster attacking us?"

"Kaede, I'd never-" Charlie was cut off as Kaede broke free of his hand and started walking again. Charlie could only stand and watch as her robes vanished in the sea of kimonos and army fatigues.

It felt like a piece of his heart had been ripped out.

In his mind, he felt a blue light intensify and buckled over, clutching at his stomach. Dawn was by his side immediately and holding onto his arm

"Charlie! What's happening, what's wrong?"

"A spirit" Charlie spat into the ground "It's stronger, I can't hold it..."

Light began emanating from his body in flashing bursts as whisps of energy were sucked into his body. Charlie felt his body changing, just like the first time, he wasn't in control and it felt like every cell in his body was freezing. He screamed into the road when suddenly everything went black as he lost consciousness.

Dawn looked up sharply and saw a blond man with loosely cut hair holding a fencing foil which seemed to be how he'd knocked Charlie out. His clothes seemed to be a strange blend of violet trousers tucked into thigh high black boots and a white shirt sliced into a vest with excessive frills at the sleeves. Tied to his neck was a red ribbon with a cartoon bat design embossed on it.

"Well, that was surely a surprise" he stated blandly "I haven't seen that in a long time." Laying Charlie down, he sheathed his sword and bowed politely before turning to leave.

"Ummm, if you don't mind me asking, who are you?" Dawn was surprised at her own courage for being able to start the question. It may have helped that she was squeezing Charlie's unconscious hand for all it was worth.

"Me? I am Keith Valentine, noted World Explorer! My grandfather sold the castle so my siblings and I are wandering the globe." Keith sighed and rubbed his nose as he remembered his grandfather ranting and squeaking about how the series was over and it was pointless keeping the castle. Utterly mad, of course, but he still owned the deeds.

Rising from his memory, Keith bowed once more  
>"Anyway, must dash. Take care of the Harmonixer, little lady." Keith smiled charmingly, revealing his fangs and causing Dawn to squeak in surprise. Immediately shutting his mouth, he started jogging away from them with Jack watching after him.<p>

"What a strange fellow..." Jack said, prompting a nod from Dawn

"He had those teeth" Dawn shivered

"He was wearing purple trousers!" Jack shouted, prompting an agonised pause of discomfort and confusion. Breathing in deeply, Dawn decided now was no time to get swamped by the severity of the situation.

"Jack? Could you help me? I need to get Charlie somewhere safe until he wakes up"

-\ -o- /-

He was running. He knew there was a creature pursuing him. Frost tickled the back of his neck as the creature lunged close and he could feel the icicles of it's claws missing him by inches. There was a voice, he could hear it but not identify the words.

He should stand and fight, but he couldn't find the courage. She'd gone, he needed her and she'd left. All because he'd been stupid enough to not tell her the truth. But was that really fair? It's not like he had a manual for all this, it was _his_body and soul in danger after all!

Suddenly the chill was receding and instead and unbearable heat started to rise up. Shielding his eyes, he could hear the voice from before talking to him but he could hear her words

"Big brother! You have to calm down! You're only making them stronger!"

He was turning to reply when he saw the lunge of ice and fire storm towards him. He could hear Kirsten screaming to him as the attacks were seconds from striking him

**"BIG BROTHER!"**

Charlie woke up thrashing, kicking the sheets off him and yelling as he fell off the bed and onto the floor. Groaning, he rolled himself fully off the bed and onto the creaking floor-boards. It took him a second to realise he was still in Japan, the room was western looking with drawn curtains and simple cream coloured walls.

A vase full of flowers stood on the bedside cabinet and had somehow miraculously avoided being hit by his flailing. Getting up stiffly, Charlie found he was still wearing his jeans but that his T-shirt and jacket had been left strewn haphazardly across a chair. Tugging them on quickly he tried to remember what had happened.

Kaede had left. He'd felt something in his heart and he began to lose control of his Fusion and then... blackness. Someone must have stopped him by knocking him out. He felt grateful for it, if he'd hurt Dawn while he was berserk he wasn't sure he could live with himself.

But maybe she'd been right. He paused, glancing out the window at the midday sun glinting off the pale brown rooftops of the houses nearby. What if Kaede was right, that he was a danger to everyone. That one day he'd become a monster and he'd need to be stopped. He'd only had these powers a few days and already they'd dealt with so much.

But that wasn't the part that he was worried about. He had to protect Dawn.

He wasn't about to dwell on his feelings, all that mattered was that he kept her safe. Wincing slightly, he made a mental note to buy a new weapon from Delinquents'R'we before they tried to get on that flight. He wasn't sure how exactly they were meant to _fly_from Yokohama.

Though he doubted Dawn would want to get a boat.

Growling in exasperation, he decided to just head out and find Dawn and Jack. Kaede was gone, he had to get over that. No matter how much it hurt.

-\ -o- /-

Dawn was sitting on the steps outside the hotel, her knees drawn up to her chest and her face perched on top so she could keep an eye on Jack. He seemed to be whittling a face onto a radish he had proclaimed to be his new head. Only for battles though.

She'd wanted to cry about half an hour ago but she'd kept it in check. She was actually pretty proud of that. Kaede had left them. The only girl she could talk to, even if they didn't talk much. But it'd hurt Charlie worse, so she had to be strong. Even if all she could think about was her Grandma and those last awful moments on the ship.

Hugging her knees tightly she tried to stop remembering that noise her grandma had made or the threats from that magician. She wished with all her heart that she wasn't special. That there'd been some mistake, that the 'Key' was someone else and that they'd leave her alone. She missed her Grandma.

Her thoughts were interupted by Charlie sitting down besides her, he looked exhausted, a faint gleam of sweat on his brow showed he'd not slept well but he still smiled at her with that same slightly crooked grin

"Hey, I'm better now. Ready to get you back to the states?"

"But where do we start?" Dawn sniffed, "Kaede was the one who organised the flight, how are we going to find it without her"

Charlie looked down for a moment, before lifting his arm and awkwardly wrapping it round her shoulders. Half-hugging her he smiled as best he could and gently shook her  
>"We'll find a way, don't worry. I'll protect you"<br>They waited a while as Jack crowed in victory and donned his new Radish helm. This one had a slightly cross face. It would've been funny in any other scenario.

The humour didn't last as a faint rumbling rolled up the street towards them, a figure shrouded in green mist emerged from in between the street-lamps, the glass bulbs exploding as he walked forward.

The man was shirtless and muscular, a series of tribal tattoos embossed over his skin in a dark navy ink, over one eye he had an ornate eyepatch but the other shined with a jade hue. On his legs he wore a series of tight white bandages and a blue and gold loin-cloth wrapped around his mid-section. He glowered at the trio standing on the hotel's doorstep and snorted.

"I am Diamond. You are dead."

"I am not dead! I am the Pumpkin King!"

"Way to miss a threat, Jack" Charlie sighed, shielding Dawn behind his arm. This would be difficult with only the two of them against another magician. "I take it you're friends with Heart? What makes you think you'll fare any better?"

"Insolent whelp" Diamond growled as sparks of green fire began to roll along his shoulders "I will teach you the true meaning of fear!"

-\ -o- /-

Kaede was waiting besides the SS Halberd with her arms folded and a listless feeling beginning to stir in her heart. She'd had to leave, of course. Even as she watched the sailors moving cargo around and the few rushing around to find the man she was asking after she dwelled on what had just happened.

He was going to become a monster, and she couldn't just stand there and watch. He wasn't even _concerned_about his condition. All he cared about was that girl. And she understood, protect the pretty girl, it was how all men operated. But he didn't want to be helped, so that was that. She wasn't going to watch one of her oldest friends become a monster. It was inconsiderate of him to expect it.

_His face as she'd left_

Why had that thought popped up? She leant forward at the approach of the man she'd come to see. Nodding her head curtly she started speaking

"General Stevens, do you remember me?"

"Miss Abe, ah distinctly remember you requesting passage for four" the general's southern accent was somewhat lost on the Japanese girl who simply folded her arms.

"I am afraid it shall be three, I am no longer travelling with the group in question"

"Well, ain't that a shame. Ah'll just inform the crew of the change" Stevens smiled pleasently but suddenly froze. He seemed to stay rooted to the spot, eyes shut and mouth raised at the corners before he slowly fell backwards and collapsed. Kaede drew her brush as she heard the screams of men dying and saw a man come dancing towards her.

His bare-feet bounced and rolled off the ground as he danced his way towards her, stopping with a quick twirl he let her get a good look. His dark skin and loose clothing reminded her of Africa and the beads around his wrists were from a very old school of magic. Raising his head, his eyes glinting with a strange madness he began to speak

"Well, aren't you a pretty little bird. My name's Club, what's yours sweet thing?"

"Kaede Abe, Exorcist" Kaede replied, charms flicking into place between her fingers, "What business do you have here?"

"I wasn't looking for you, but that boy of yours. Little did I realise how severe our problems were to have traitors in our midsts"

"What? Traitors?" Kaede tensed herself, angry at the attack and the insinuation far more worrying than she cared to admit "Stop there before I have to use force!"

Club giggled at the interjection, stamping a few times he threw a hand forward and a wave of force propelled Kaede backwards. Slamming into the hull of the battleship, she bounced off with tremendous force and landed in a heap. Spluttering through the blood in her mouth, she tried to raise her charms

"_I can't let him get Charlie... He's my friend, I will protect him!_"

Club seemed to find this attempt laughable but stopped when he heard an inhuman snarl. His face suddenly showing stark fear, he vanished in an explosion of crimson feathers as a huge creature landed in front of her. She couldn't see well as she teetered on the brink of passing out but she saw it glow suddenly and stand tall, brown hair flowing the breeze

"_Charlie? No, someone else... is it?_" Kaede's last thought was lost as she tumbled into unconsciousness in front of the mysterious man. He looked down at her, red eyes seeming conflicted

"Well, this is a fine mess we're all in" he sighed as he scooped her up. Looked like there was only more trouble coming.

* * *

><p><strong>The Party so Far<strong>

(active party)

**Charlie Anjou  
><strong>Role: Harmonixer  
>Element: Dark<br>Weapon: Broken Aluminum Bat

**Jack O'Connagh  
><strong>Role: Pumpkin King  
>Element: Fire<br>Weapon: Frowny face Radish

**Dawn Tyler  
><strong>Role: Unknown  
>Element: Neutral<br>Weapon: BB Beretta

(Seperated)

**Kaede Abe  
><strong>Role: Taoist  
>Element: Water<br>Weapon: Holy Ink (Navy)

**?  
><strong>Role: Harmonixer  
>Element: ?<br>Weapon: ?

* * *

><p><strong>Monster Encyclopedia<strong>

**Drowned Soldier  
>:Water:<br>**The lost soul of a man who drowned at sea. While unquiet, they rarely rise up unless provoked.

**Elmo's Fire  
>:Water:<br>**Fireballs summoned by the spirits of men who died of disease while at sea. Despite being made of fire, they're water element.

**Markus**  
><strong>:Dark:<br>**A two-bit mage who became entangled in the larger plots of an evil cult. The last loyal member, he was killed by Charlie in his Gallas form.

**Esquilax  
>:Light:<br>**From the 6th circle of Hell, this Rabbit was used to torture heretics before it was called to this plane. It's charming appearance belies it's true monstrosity.


	6. Chapter 6: The Odds get worse

**Usual disclaimer, I don't own anything, all that jazz. Well, the Shadow Hearts section has been pretty busy lately which is awesome :D. I don't think I have any real shout outs but I did read the updated stories and they all seem pretty cool and different. Especially the Autumn Kimono, but that's just personal preference. Hope you enjoy the story!  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Shadow Hearts: Resurrection<strong>

**Chapter 6: The Odds get worse**

An eruption of emerald fire exploded from Diamond's hand and rushed down the street towards Charlie and the party. The few bystanders still in the vicinity began to flee as Jack dived in the way and shouted something that sounded remarkably like a spell. A sphere of light shot from the Radish and burst on the wall of green fire into an eerie Jack O'Lantern shape.

The two fires cancelled each other out, prompting Jack to fluff his coat triumphantly and point a threatening hand forward

"Slightly spicy with a pale body, the noble radish!" The frowning expression of the radish somehow seemed to fit the proclaimation but now didn't feel like a good time for humour. Charlie rushed forward with his broken bat in hand and swung at Diamond's face.

The huge man swerved backwards to dodge as the young hero started striking wildly, the curved bat now able to hit from a variety of angles that Diamond seemed inable to predict.

Finally catching it with his fist, Diamond snarled and crumpled what was left of the aluminium. Charlie tried to wrench the club free but it was held fast since it was curled around the behemoth of a man's knuckles. Releasing the bat quickly, he stumbled back and tried to fuse.

He felt odd, his emotional turmoil from earlier seemed to be locking out his powers. He felt a sort of false start as he tried to transform himself, some kind of inner lock keeping his power in check. He glanced up in time to see a kick arcing round and barrelling into his chest, he exhaled sharply to lessen the winding and rolled along the pavement

"Hmph" snorted Diamond "Arrogant in your ability. Mastering fusion takes YEARS. You think an infant could handle such power?"

Charlie got up, seething with anger and felt the transformation suddenly kick in. With a rush of air and light, he screamed with pain. He'd misjudged, when he wasn't thinking clearly the transformation could run wild and inside all that fire had been building. With an intense flash and a blur, a smouldering figure appeared striking out at Diamond with a clash of metal on flesh.

Covered in a layer of crimson scales, a shock of white hair blasted back from his scalp, Charlie stood with his fist embedded in the metal of his bat. Diamond grinned, a berserk warrior was always easier to deal with.

Throwing a hand forward to catch the second attempt at a flaming blow of the draconic Charlie, Diamond blasted him back with green fire once more. Twisting in the air so he landed in a crouch, Charlie continued charging wildly followed by flaming skulls launched by Jack with his Curse Magic.

The two fire elements clashed against Diamond's own green flames before being rebuked by sheer might, the explosion sending shrapnel of magic energy searing through the air and exploding what glass remained unmelted in the frames.

Jack shielded himself but Charlie was badly scorched, landing in a damaged heap he snarled once more trying to get back to his feet. The stones of the street were warped and burnt by the heat of the flames, and Charlie couldn't focus enough to get an even balance.

The monster was in control now, he knew it's name was Djinn and all he wanted to do was burn.

He felt the fire inside him building, not even caring for his own destruction until he heard it. Clear and true, like a bell ringing through the air

"CHARLIE!"

And like that he was in control again. With a flash of white light he fell to one knee and rested a hand on the street, feeling the warped texture of the previously singed stone. He looked over his shoulder and saw Dawn's face, the faint tracks her tears had left and he swore that he couldn't let his control slip ever again.

"I'm alright, Dawn" he gasped as he forced himself to stand, grabbing a fistul of seeds from his pocket he started chewing. Thera Seed was overkill on his injuries as he felt his whole body rejuvenate but that Pure Seed only just reached his limit. He didn't even feel relaxed just his base level of calm.

"He's not Fire" Dawn shouted "He feels like that cyclops not like Jack at all!"

Earth element? Was that why everything was green?

Charlie grinned, he knew just what to do against Earth element monsters. But he paused as his common sense kicked in. If he became Suzuring then he'd be more vulnerable to the Earth element spells, and this guy was a magician. He was almost entirely based around the use of magic.

Djinn would be useful, but fighting fire with fire wasn't proving a particularly useful tactic despite the old saying, and that ruled out Blyk too. Falling back on the old reliable, Charlie fused into Gallas with a rush of light and shouted back to Dawn

"**Get into cover, and uhh... please don't shoot anyone in the eye**" before charging forward. It had been a stupid thing to say, he could see her pouting already. But it'd calmed her down, and that was all he wanted right now.

Shooting forward on bladed legs, Charlie quickly dashed to the right as another jet of green fire shot past him. He could almost feel it in this form, the raw earthen power behind the flames.

Jack was still blasting jets of fire in the shape of skulls and one particularly persistant tornado of flaming bats. It seemed the Radish really did make him stronger, he was using a lot more spells than usual.

Diamond was so focused on Jack he was surprised when a fist shrouded in black mist struck the side of his head and bowled him over. The magician swore violently as Gallas' bladed leg struck him in the chest and scored a deep cut

"You little-" Diamond started before finally glancing down and noticing a sphere of light floating besides him and an admonishing Radish looking up at him.

"KABLOOOM!" Jack shouted as the Jack O'Lantern detonated. Charlie used Diamond to kick off of to escape as the flaming lantern engulfed the magician. Landing with a screech as his bladed legs dug through the pavement, Charlie saw Diamond panting through the burns.

"I don't believe it," he coughed "To have gotten so strong... we must regroup"

In a swirl of green bubbles, the magician vanished leaving three baffled travellers and one devestated Japanese high street.

-\ -o- /-

Kaede felt her eyes slowly adjusting to the faint oil-lamp burning besides her, illuminating the small room she found herself in. Sitting up, she saw the man who'd helped her sitting on a plain wooden chair clearly writing something for himself with a distinctive sound of pen-scratching.

His hair looked a little too familiar but his build was wrong, brown hair wasn't all that uncommon she supposed. He looked older too, closer to thirty than twenty, hints of stubble lingering around his chin and neck.

But he wore a black jacket too, with a silver cross on it and dark trousers. He dressed like Charlie, but also like that man... resting her feet on the floorboards, a soft creak lifted up and prompted the man to turn around sharply.

"Ahh, I see you're awake" he smiled, his red eyes shining in the dim light "How are you feeling?"

"Half Japanese? Are you him?" Kaede asked, getting to her feet, she gingerly touched his face to check she'd guessed his ethnicity correctly.

"I'm who? Would you mind getting off me?" He asked as politely as he was able with his cheeks smooshed together.

"Oh, sorry. It's you isn't it? Yuri?"

"Ahh. This might be awkward. Yes, my name _is_Yuri-"

"And you're a Harmonixer?"

"Yes I am, but-"

"Then you're the man we're looking for! The Godslayer! My friend needs help he's-"

"Inugami!" The man called Yuri blurted out suddenly, cutting Kaede off with a curious frown. "My name is Yuri Inugami. My father is Kurando, my mother is a Russian, that's why I have the same name as... that man" He finished lamely, looking slightly put-out at being compared to a man who would be approaching 70.

"Oh... then the rumours?"

"An unhappy co-incidence that I resemble my second-cousin. He's dead. I assure you" Yuri sighed in exasperation, "Ever since I was little this name's gotten me into trouble. He _tried_to tell her it was a girl's name in Japan"

"You can still help me," Kaede resolved "My friend Charlie has only just awoken as a Harmonixer and he needs helping"

"I've heard," Yuri commented dryly "I have no idea how a European got the power of Fusion. I came to see if I would need to keep our bloodline pure, test his mettle as it were. As the last Harmonixer I'm not sure I appreciate the competition"

"I believe his versatlity would throw you" Kaede replied tartly, somehow feeling a need to stick up for Charlie and not willing to admit that this guy could beat him. She wasn't even remembering that she'd left him.

"What do you mean? Versatility?" Yuri looked confused at this, possibly even afraid as Kaede felt a twitch of smugness in her voice.

"Don't you know? He can fuse into multiple creatures. That's not common is it?"

"It's almost unheard of" Yuri said hollowly "I've only heard of one other capable of such a thing, which explains why you seek my uncle... where is your friend?"

"I..." Kaede stopped as she realised she didn't know. She'd left them in Yokohama on their own, even with those men after them. Had she let anger cloud her judgement so severely? Had she left them to the wolves? No, she had to stay calm, what was the drill whenever she and Charlie entered town?

"He'll be at the inn, we should hurry. I think I've made more than a few mistakes"

-\ -o- /-

"So, you're still wearing the pumpkin everywhere else?"

"I'd look ridiculous wearing a radish in public, would I not?"

"My god, you're weird" Charlie groaned, lying back on the bed as he rubbed his side. He'd definitely strained something vital when he'd gone berserk, the thera seed had just delayed the inevitable.

Resting had helped a lot even if it had been whilst supervising Jack. Dawn had insisted she bandage his side so he was lying around shirtless once more with most of his torso bandaged. Which actually made it _harder_to move but Dawn had been so sure she was helping.

Dawn was actually standing watch since Jack had used up all his magical power and Charlie was in no condition to fight right now. The cost of going berserk was a lot steeper than he'd thought, he'd be out of comission for at least a day. Which was worrying but couldn't be helped.

They'd forced Diamond to leave, which if his math was any good meant they had yet to meet Club and Spade. A troupe of magicians based on playing cards, all after the Key. Well, it wasn't the weirdest thing he'd had to deal with but he was still trying to place what the magic had been.

Heart had gone for summoning, with that huge top-hat and swagger he seemed European but old school despite that.

Diamond had dressed strangely but his magic was simple, direct, which reminded him of a cult from Greece he'd heard of before.

A cadre of mismatched wizards with old styles all fighting over a key. But what did they even want her for? Why did he care exactly? These complicated questions only seemed to occur when he was staring at a hanging light fixture.

He heard a sudden bang from outside and a shout of pain followed by hushed murmurs. He heaved himself up with a wince and swung his legs over the side so he could stand up. He opened the door cautiously and saw Dawn jump as he leant out, cutting off her apologies

"You didn't shoot the bellhop again did you?"

"You look well, Anjou" Kaede smiled with Yuri clutching at his fore-head behind her, a swollen red mark coming up. Charlie didn't even have time to acknowledge the older man as he simply stared at her

"Kaede?" He didn't have the energy to say anything else, physical exhaustion tended to drag down mental functions too.

"Yes, it's me. I'm back. I... I'm not saying I was wrong but I think I over-reacted. I shouldn't have left you on your own"

"That was dangerously close to an apology" Charlie grinned, that same infuriating (ever-so familiar) grin, and leant back to let them into the inn's room "I think I can take you back this one time. Oh, and uhh, I also need to borrow some money for a new weapon"

"Seriously? This guy has Fusion powers?" Yuri scowled, the welt of the BB shot swelling up properly now. Charlie frowned at this sudden insult and contemplated grabbing the radish to properly illustrate his point.

"And who are you, Mr High and Mighty?"

"Yuri Inugami, the last Harmonixer. I take it your Charles -blank- Anjou? Forgive me, I don't know your middle name"

"I don't have a middle name?" Charlie looked baffled, and just slightly annoyed at this Yuri guy. It wasn't mandatory to have a middle name was it? He remembered Dawn's was Grace but that was all.

"Right, nevertheless, I'm here to find out how you managed to get these powers. There are no more Harmonixers!"

"What're you talking about? I fought one in a Rice Paddy a few towns over" Charlie was getting exasperated now by this guy who seemed intent on looking down on him. Yuri looked yet more bewildered by this turn of events and noticed Kaede nodding at this.

"That is... am I in the middle of a highly elaborate practical joke?" Yuri asked, his grip on events rapidly spiralling out of control.

"I'm afraid not. We have a much larger problem, come inside" Kaede ushered the whole group through, Dawn taking some time to help Charlie and subtly elbow him for making fun of her itchy trigger finger.

Gathering everyone around the two single beds, Kaede stood apart from the rest so she could explain the entire story to both Yuri and the others

"This all started on the cruise ship Matilda, where that man Markus attempted to capture Dawn believing her to be the Key. Whilst there, something triggered this change in Charlie where he became a Harmonixer"

"That's not really how it works" Yuri sighed, "But I have no idea how it _did _happen so let's continue"

"We set off here to meet a man named Yuri, but unfortunately the rumours of his return to life were greatly exagerated. Yuri Hyuga is dead and his second cousin with his name is carrying on his legacy. Now, the real problem is the American soldier. He somehow learnt to transform through a method similar to Fusion. However, Charlie being a complete beginner was able to destroy him with a transformation he had just learnt?"

"Yeah, I only figured it out in the fight" Charlie agreed

"Which seems unlikely for a trained soldier. So, we know two things. Firstly, someone is making false Harmonixers with diminished capabilities. Unfortunately, if what I heard from that sorceror Club is true-"

"Oh, so all we have left is Spade?"

"Pardon?"

"Uhh, not important, Kaede. Carry on" Charlie waved off his little observation, unaware he was already getting on her nerves again.

"I had booked us passage with an American company but Club said something. He called Stevens and his men 'traitors'. Now, given the magicicans apparent interest in you and Dawn that would make me believe they are linked to the false Harmonixers. In other words, whatever turned you into this Charlie, is probably the fault of those magicians. And whoever they are, they seem to have control on the American military."

The silence hung in the air as Jack continued to whittle on the Radish to deepen the expression carved onto it. If the enemy had control over the American military then that meant they couldn't get Dawn home safely, they would have to go somewhere else. After a sufficently long pause Charlie had to ask

"So, what do we do now?"

They realised no-one had an answer.

-\ -o- /-

Heart plucked at his tie awkwardly as he shuffled his way into the straw shack. Sitting in the middle of the dirt was a man in a golden robe staring into a flickering fire. By his side lay two long cruel looking blades and the enclosed tarp of the walls only made the heat of the fire unbearable.

Why was he even here? Heart hated stuff like this, he appreciated the finer things in life. It was because Club was too lazy, he was always idle unless something caught his interest. Standing in dirt like this, he was sure to ruin his spats.

"Ummm, Spade?"

"I don't like that name." hissed the golden robed man "What do you want? Not satisfied with my replacement? Realised how dangerous he is? Hmm?"

"It's worse than that Spade... we've found a Harmonixer. A pure one. With multiple elements."

There was a long pause, tension hung in the air like razor wire, threatening to slice through anyone foolish enough to stumble in. And then Spade laughed. He laughed deep and proud.

"Kee hee hee! Interesting... I accept, Heart. I will come with you, to kill this man who reminds me so badly of him. I won't give up this body so easily."

* * *

><p><strong>The Party so Far<strong>

(active party)

**Charlie Anjou  
><strong>Role: Harmonixer  
>Element: Dark<br>Weapon: Broken Aluminum Bat

**Jack O'Connagh  
><strong>Role: Pumpkin King  
>Element: Fire<br>Weapon: Frowny face Radish

**Dawn Tyler  
><strong>Role: Unknown  
>Element: Neutral<br>Weapon: BB Beretta

(Inactive)

**Kaede Abe  
><strong>Role: Taoist  
>Element: Water<br>Weapon: Holy Ink (Navy)

**Yuri Inugami  
><strong>Role: Harmonixer  
>Element: Light<br>Weapon: ?

* * *

><p><strong>No bonuses this chapter, but there'll be a new Fusion Monsters one next chapter.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7: Shanghai Heaven

**Wow, been a while since I updated, huh? This chapter took a lot of time to get through even though not much happens but it's also rife with fan-service of all kinds so hopefully everyone has fun with it. Some plot relevant stuff does happen as well, it's just got more jokes than usual. Usual disclaimer about Shadow Hearts, feedback is appreciated too. And I didn't get round to doing a Fusion Monsters bonus, but there is a monster encyclopedia one instead.**

* * *

><p><strong>Shadow Hearts: Resurrection<strong>

**Chapter 7: Shanghai Heaven**

They'd been travelling almost a week now since they left Yokohama. They'd reached Tokyo the day before last but the exact district they needed seemed to be in great disarray and to Charlie's immense annoyance, they had to take extremely convoluted routes to avoid the American military.

Firstly because Dawn may well be wanted now if their enemies had control over the American Military and secondly because Yuri 'the high and mighty' refused to stop carrying around his katana. A keepsake from his father, but one that meant the Americans were on shoot first, ask questions later orders.

Once they'd finally reached the city, Charlie had taken Jack and Kaede to find some more weapons leaving Yuri to guard Dawn in their hotel room since neither one could move about freely. As they followed the trainlines into Akihabara, Charlie began to wonder if Yuri's information would be any use.

He claimed that he had a contact in Europe who would be in Akihabara, which Charlie didn't consider overly useful since as far as he was aware everywhere in Europe had extradition treaties with America, but he could get them out of Japan and evade their enemies clutches.

Akihabara was filled with row upon row of dazzling lights in various multi-colors, it lived up to it's nickname of Electric town and most importantly, seemed to keep it's nature as a black market since the end of the war. Slipping down a narrow concrete alleyway, Charlie followed Kaede as she lead them through a meandering series of alleys and shop-floors to reach the secluded black market dealing in high-end electronics.

The shop itself was a small boxy room, red tape hanging from the ceiling and stray wires and other such gadgets lay strewn about the place complete with one particularly astounding looking radio which Jack looked longingly at for a while as if to think if it would be possible to fit it over his head.

The old man who owned the store coughed and grinned at them, his fat belly dropping over his bent knees while Kyle hunched awkwardly in the other corner of the shop and looked thoroughly miserable. Charlie could guess why from the rank odeur filling the shop, and he could also guess the source of the smell.

"Hey Kyle," Charlie said through a pinched nose "Any chance of some new toys?"

"I've got some stuff" Kyle said doubtfully "But I'm not sure I can sell you it. There's a lot of pressure on the black market here, I don't want to get busted"

"Busted? Kyle, we aren't moles" Charlie sighed "Just gimme the weapons, anything good?"

Kyle reluctantly produced the new weapons he had in stock, a bottle of crimson ink which was made from the blood of a martyred priest and certain holy herbs, a radish carved with a frowny face (which was so baffling Charlie refused to acknowledge it existed) and a rather heavy looking sledge-hammer.

"I'm more a fan of bats than hammers" Charlie pointed out, feeling the much greater weight of the weapon. His use of clubs over sharp objects was a point of ridicule with other exorcists but he tried to ignore them. And when he couldn't he showed them exactly why he liked clubs.

"I do have a bat, but the hammers much stronger" Kyle shrugged as Kaede pocketed her ink and Jack took some time staring at the new radish with his current one. "Oh, I've also got a browning pistol if Dawn would like an upgrade"

"Uhhh..." Charlie took a moment to remember exactly how many people had been shot by Dawn with her BB gun and then imagined what would happen were they _real_bullets "think we'll pass, mate, thanks" Charlie concluded as he handed over the money.

Kaede seemed to take this as a sign she could focus on the task at hand and turned to face the fat old man who owned the shop. He seemed to be staring rather intently at areas of her body she was not entirely comfortable with. Staring him down with an icy glare she decided to proceed as calmly as she could through his lecherous chuckles

"Mr Osugi, we are here to ask if you know the location of a man called Bacon?" Kaede's gritted teeth distorted her words slightly as she tried to ignore how Osugi seemed unaware her eyes were a little further up than where he was currently looking.

Charlie looked over to Jack as he heard the name and looked slightly curious. Jack had mentioned that name before, did he know the same guy as Yuri? It was possible, but at the same time he was currently trying to make two radishes kiss so take anything he says with a pinch of salt. And probably some salad dressing.

"I don't know if I can help you, love" Osugi snorted "I mean what's in it for me?"

"We can pay you money" Kaede offered, her whole body quivering with rage and prompting Charlie to very quietly guide Jack and Kyle to the back of the room and hushing them to keep quiet.

"I've got money" Osugi grinned through yellowed teeth, "Maybe you can do something else for me?"

"Exorcise a demon?" Kaede offered, her fingers flexing in a way that either meant she was preparing charms or someone was about to lose an eye. For the love of god, Charlie thought, why can he not see the warning signs! He could hear the warning siren in his mind now. Run Osugi! Run!

"I believe they do call it that in some circles" Osugi gaffawed, "What do you say, sweet cheeks?"

"Kyle, cover your eyes" Charlie said immediately "You're too young to see this"

-\ -o- /-

"I have never seen a human's arm DO that" Jack said in bewilderment as Kaede lead them to the destination given by Osugi (after he'd suffered a fairly severe beating). Charlie grabbed Jack by the shoulders and pulled the taller man down so he could whisper in his ear (well, Pumpkin).

"She may not act it, but Kaede's really funny about... y'know, love-love"

"Do you mean intercourse?" Jack asked, at far too great a volume

"Yes, that!" Charlie blushed "Look, she just doesn't like being perved on, it really gets her angry."

"Oh. Then we should probably not take her in here" Jack nodded his head at the cafe they'd arrived at. Charlie's jaw dropped open and he stared in mute horror at the location Osugi had given them.

The area seemed to be on the second floor of the building and was surrounded by neon pink signs pointing in and some very clear signs saying what was to be inside. Standing by the entrance were excessively pretty girls in bathing suits or frilly french maid uniforms handing out flyers and through the window slow jazz music could be heard.

Shanghai Heaven.

"Bacon's in here?" Charlie asked, his voice ringing hollow. "What do we do?"

"We go in and find him" Kaede said, grim determination in her voice. Only slightly off set by her face being bright red and the fact she was reflexively covering herself. Charlie could almost see her SP lowering by looking at the place.

"We can't Kaede, any American soldiers in there might think your a member of staff. The last thing we need is the military asking why a platoon got wiped out. You should stay here."

"Oh? So you and Jack can enjoy yourself?" Kaede asked, relief at not having to enter seemed to have made her want to devolve into teasing. Charlie's face flushed immediately as he mumbled something about how he hoped she wouldn't tell Dawn where they were going but Kaede silenced him with a hand-wave.

"I was joking. Look, we need to find this Bacon character, you and Jack do your best, I'll go and see how Dawn and Yuri are holding up. And Charlie... do be careful, wouldn't want you breaking Dawn's heart"

"Oh, whatever!" Charlie shouted back, "How about you be careful you don't, uhh, be a jerk! Or... something"

"Well played" Kaede rolled her eyes as she walked back to the hotel, leaving Charlie and Jack alone to deal with the perils of... Shanghai Heaven.

-\ -o- /-

Gaining entrance was fine, it only cost about 200 in cash, but as they ascended the staircase Charlie felt a strange sensation in the air. He took a few paces forward and reflexively checked his wallet

"Huh! I just lost $10! How am I losing cash." Charlie glanced around, there was no sign of the money, did he just drop it?

He took one more step forward and heard a jangle of coins before quickly glancing into his wallet again.

"Another 5 just went! Hang on... every step we take costs us money!" Charlie glanced up at Jack who was quite non-chalently strolling towards a rack full of stuffed pink bunny rabbits and other assortments of girly costumes.

"Jack! Stop! You just cost me 75 bucks!" Charlie wailed, watching as money evaporated from his wallet.

Was this some kind of curse? They had quite a lot of money saved up from odd jobs they'd done on the way here, but nowhere near enough to last if they explored every inch of the building.

"Charlie..." Jack mumbled from his position on the far side of the room, "this outfit"

Charlie looked to see what Jack was talking about and nearly choked on his own air. The outift was a tiny white nurse's uniform, complete with latex gloves and a stethoscope, it looked appalling, Charlie felt just a teeny bit ashamed just looking at it. With a fierce glowering stare, his eyes seemed to ask Jack just why the hell he'd pointed this out to him

"It's defence rating is triple Kaede's normal clothes"

There was absolutely no words. After a few moments horrified silence, Charlie mutely shook his head and started very slowly moving through the shop to try and find this Bacon character.

Slipping past the rows of pink items on display, Charlie glanced down to see two pink kitten like creatures glancing up at him with blood-red eyes and sharply bared fangs. He blinked, wondered what he'd done to deserve this, and quickly drew his hammer as the cat monsters attacked.

-\ -o- /-

Kaede knocked on the plain wooden door of their room and calmly took a step back to lie flat against the wall besides it. She watched as the barrel of Dawn's gun leaned out quickly and snatched it from her with alarming speed and a small squeak from Dawn.

"You should be more careful with this, Dawn" Kaede reprimanded mildly "It draws attention if you inadvertently shoot someone"

Dawn looked slightly hurt and rubbed her arm as Kaede passed her back the weapon, their new room was significantly better than the one's chosen in Yokohama, the ceiling was high and vaulted and they had four beds strewn about the room (since Jack had now chosen to sleep standing up).

The pale green wallpaper was soothing enough, and though Yuri had complained it was in too western a style, it made Dawn less anxious and she took main priority.

As soon as she entered, Kaede noticed that Yuri looked troubled, staring out of the room's window and into the streets. He'd lain his sword and jacket casually across his chosen bed and was sitting in a short vest and his trousers, staring at the crowd outside.

"What's the matter? You seem troubled" Kaede took a seat on the window sill to try and meet Yuri's eyes.

"All my life I've been alone. My father died when I was young, too young to remember. My mother tried to help me, but she didn't understand Fusion. I had to teach myself everything and I-" Yuri went quiet suddenly "I don't know how to feel that there's another like me now."

He glanced over to Dawn, seeing her sitting on her bed, knees drawn up to her chest and face perched on her knees. This was the first time she'd really had a chance to just sit down and think about her situation. It looked like the army itself was after her for reasons they didn't even understand, her grandmother had died to protect her.

Kaede sighed, it was one of those things you got used to being an exorcist. Everyone had a story to tell and in her circles, everyone had a story to tell flled with bloodshed and tragedy. She'd met men who'd seen horrible things, the war had unleashed untold levels of malice across the country.

She still operated in Japan because the sheer levels of malice in the areas near Hiroshima and Nagasaki was unbelievably, oni and demons had begun to walk the earth visible to even the most normal of mortals. And now, only a few years after the insanity, Dawn was being chased down for something important.

Throw in Yuri and now Charlie and she was beginning to wonder if there weren't more stories behind this war than she'd believed. She'd heard tales of places in Europe so filled with malice that psychics couldn't even approach and that somewhere in America a font filled with Will had been blocked.

Something was happening and right at the core was this ordinary human girl.

"We can keep her safe, right?" Kaede asked, glancing to Yuri to try and gauge his reaction

"Much as I dislike your friend, Anjou, he'd do anything to save her. It reminds me of a story my mother told me."

"Oh? Did it have a happy ending?"

"Not so much" Yuri sighed "The boy died and the girl vanished." getting up from the window, he went over to his jacket and reached into the pocket. Rummaging around for a while, he produced a strange pendant, a clear jewel of dark blue wrapped in a rock like substance hung from it.

"What's that?" Kaede asked, approaching him cautiously, the item had an odd aura to it and made her nervous.

"It's a memento... but one I think Anjou needs more. Dawn, make sure he gets it." Yuri tossed the jewel to the girl who caught it with an awkward squeak. The pendant may be important but somehow he felt it made more sense for Charlie to wear it.

Taking his seat by the window again, Yuri watched the crowds with the detached air of a man who could burn this whole town to the ground if he had the mind. He wondered idly how his newfound rival in fusion was doing.

-\ -o- /-

4 floors and 3,450 bucks later, Charlie and Jack had reached the actual cafe of Shanghai Heaven. The two of them had fought through a disconcerting amount of feral pink cats and zombies dressed in sailor uniforms but they'd finally reached the goal.

Walking past the thin crowd of waiting patrons, Charlie approached a girl in what looked like a stereotypical french-maid outfit and coughed briefly to get her attention. She immediately sprang to attention and smiled broadly,

"Hiiiiii~, welcome to Shanghai Heaven, where we push pleasure to eleven! My name's Lemon, how can I help?"

"Um, Hi Lemon, we're looking for someone"

"Ohhhhh, that's adorable! We'll just go and find you a girl 3"

"No! We're looking for a man"

"Oh" Lemon's face suddenly dropped "I'm sorry sir, this isn't that kind of establishment. Please-"

"Not like that" Charlie groaned "We're looking for Roger Bacon, is he here? Please tell me he is, I don't have enough money to walk out of here without him"

"Ohhh, you're friends with Rodgie? We'll take you right to him, right this way~" Lemon was suddenly all smiles again as she lead them away. Jack leant in close to Charlie's ear as the two followed her

"You're very good with women"

"Shutit, Pumpkin head" Charlie growled, lamenting his poor choice of insult as they were lead through the cafe.

The black and white checkered floor was practically sparkling as soft music filtered through from a large arced radio sat on the bar as various maids cheerily poured tea for enthusiastic men of all ages complete with cute smiles and hand gestures.

It made Charlie pretty awkward as he kept thinking about Dawn's face.

Finally, they were guided to the table of an elderly gentleman, his marigold coloured suit and oddly flat hate did nothing to dilute his clearly ancient appearance as the old man sipped tea from a cup and made no show of hiding the oggling of the nurses. His skull looked oddly pronounced with a tiny goatee beard adorning his chin.

Next to him was another old man, also oggling the girls, but with a thick pair of glasses on his face. Somewhat counter-intuitively, the glasses had spiralling patterns on them. This old man had a spiky white beard and a slightly toothless grin as well as a pair of dirty oil stained overalls.

"Hee hee, what did I tell you, Roger? This is much better than the magazines" the bearded one chuckled to the other old man as he turned his head to follow a waitress walking somewhere with a tray.

"It's always good to get your mind off things and just enjoy the world" the man who was presumably Bacon sighed "Hmm? Did you order two weirdoes, Jerry?"

"Not that I know of" Jerry replied, his eyebrows furrowing in anger "Oi lads, you weren't sent here by Whitcomb were ya? Tell him I'll come back when I can, NACA will have to wait."

"Err, actually we were sent here by a man called Yuri? We need to get out of Japan and we were told you could help us" Charlie sounded doubtful

"Ehh? Yuri?" Roger suddenly hopped up "Yuri Inugami? How do you know him?"

"Well, he's... I'm sort of a Harmonixer like him so he-"

"Whaaaaaaat?" Roger practically fell out of his chair and was caught by a particularly agile maid. Thanking her excessively as she returned him to his seat and he adjusted his bow-tie.

"Can you help us?" Charlie asked, feeling decidedly unprepared to be dealing with this right now. Jack was being quiet at least, which was always something.

"Sorry boys, we're otherwise engaged" Jerry chuckled but was silenced by a wave from Roger

"If Yuri's asking for my help, we'll do it. Something serious must have happened." Roger suddenly looked serious, his age old face no longer creased in laughter and perversion, it was suddenly the face of a sad old man who was being reminded too strongly of what he'd lost.

"Huh, you mean I'll do it" grumbled Jerry "Your ships still broken after all" hopping down from the seat Jerry spat into his palm and extended the gloved hand to Charlie with a broad, disfigured grin

"My name's Jerry Bernstein, I make people fly! I'm 82 years old and one of these days I'm going to send a man to the moon! In a ship" he said, pointedly looking at Roger one last time, "Pleased to meet you! There any girls in your group?"

"Oh god, Kaede's going to kill him" Charlie whimpered to himself.

He didn't think about it but Jack was being uncharacteristically quiet. All he did throughout the entire conversation was stare at Roger Bacon, as if somewhere in his damaged mind he was trying to remember where he'd seen him.

* * *

><p><strong>The Party so Far<strong>

(active party)

**Charlie Anjou  
><strong>Role: Harmonixer  
>Element: Dark<br>Weapon: Broken Aluminum Bat

**Jack O'Connagh  
><strong>Role: Pumpkin King  
>Element: Fire<br>Weapon: Frowny face Radish

**Jerry Bernstein  
><strong>Role: Air Wizard/Engineer  
>Element: Wind<br>Weapon: ?

(At the Hotel)

**Kaede Abe  
><strong>Role: Taoist  
>Element: Water<br>Weapon: Holy Ink (Navy)

**Yuri Inugami  
><strong>Role: Harmonixer  
>Element: Light<br>Weapon: ?

**Dawn Tyler  
><strong>Role: Unknown  
>Element: Neutral<br>Weapon: BB Beretta

* * *

><p><strong>Monster Encyclopedia<strong>

**Kappa**  
><strong>:Water:<strong>  
>Empowered by the world's malice, these creatures now roam above the surface. The plate on their head is their weak-point.<p>

**Cyclops  
>:Earth:<br>**The fusion form of Sgt Frank Harris, Harris is of greek descent and so his fusion beast adopts this unlikely form.

**Andre JR  
>:Fire:<br>**Smuggled from Manmariana island, these adorable kittens are actually quite deadly. They're docile around young women though.

**Eternal Fan  
>:Dark:<br>**Risen through dark power, this fan will always seek to admire his idol even through the veil of death. While raised for an unusual reason, the zombies are lethal like any other.


	8. Chapter 8: Sayonara Japan

******Well, this took me forever. Either way, this is Chapter 8, usual disclaimer about owning, fan based all that stuff. Apologies for the delay, hopefully won't happen again but either way at least things happen in this one. Also, apologies in advance for bad spelling, I didn't get much chance to proof-read so I'll hopefully be fixing this at some point.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Shadow Hearts: Resurrection<strong>

**Chapter 8: Sayonara Japan**

Charlie and Jack followed Jerry down the 'emergency escape route' to avoid losing what little money they had left walking down the way they came in. Jerry was surprisingly nimble for an old man, grabbing the fireman's pole that was their escape route and sliding down it easily with the pumpkin-headed Jack behind him and Charlie doing his best to not check his wallet as they went.

Landing on the ground-floor, they followed the slightly bow-legged Jerry as he hobbled his way out of Shanghai Heaven and began mumbling to himself about flying under the radar. Charlie left him to it for a while, he was busy thinking to himself about his Harmonixer abilities. He still didn't quite get what his powers meant, Yuri seemed to imply the power was natural but he couldn't do it before the accident on the Matilda.

It just felt strange to him, he'd managed to unlock 5/6 elements now and if Kaede was right about their being 6 magical elements (he had to admit, he always felt a little tetchy about being 'Dark' by her reckoning) then he had one more form to unlock. Which'd make sense but he got the feeling he could go further, that the monsters he was becoming weren't from things he'd defeated.

It was strange but they felt like his emotions were the key to it all, he just had to work out how...

Shaking his head to clear the serious thoughts brewing inside, he clapped a hand to Jack's shoulder and shouted to Jerry

"So, how are we going to be leaving Japan?" he asked, he was aware the American military were currently occupying and it'd be hard to cross the pacific without being seen. Jerry disagreed it seemed, judging from the grin on his face

"Easily, m'boy. We're going to fly so fast and so hard that those boys in the Airforce are going to be sending reports to Area 51 for years"

-\ -o- /-

Kaede was still watching the people milling around in the street, her half lidded eyes keeping track of all the movements going on below them but she still felt ill at ease. Yuri seemed to feel the same as he uncomfortable folded his arms and kept looking at the door. Both of them could feel it, not so much a sense of danger as one of foreboding.

Something was coming their way, it was just a question of when.

Dawn seemed unaware of the danger, still toying with her now safely unloaded gun and holding it tightly, a totem of safety that Kaede half envied her for. It had been many years since she had felt truly safe. She was moving away from the window when she heard the commotion in the street.

Cautiously, she rested a hand on the windowframe as she peeked out to see what it had been. Lying in the middle of the street, his face buried in the cold grey of the road was a man. He looked perfectly ordinary but the gathering crowd seemed to regard his prescence with great concern. There was a faint shimmer in the air, lasting but a moment, but when Kaede looked again the man was on his foot and shuffling forward.

She groaned even before the shambling man-creature attacked a civilian. Zombies. Easy enough to put down, but she'd need to get to it now before more were infected. It didn't feel likely but with the malice in the air, it was technically possible this was a co-incidence. Still, she felt it best to leave some security.

"Yuri, keep an eye on Dawn, I'll go and deal with this zombie problem" grabbing her brush and ink, Kaede slipped out of the hotel room and with a slight hurry, she moved out onto the street to contain this problem as quickly as possible to limit.

The door was still swinging shut gently when long, tapered fingers grabbed the door-frame as a golden robed finger appeared within it, looking at both Dawn and Yuri with malevolent eyes  
>"Well, look at what I've found here. Kee hee hee hee"<p>

-\ -o- /-

Charlie was still trying to get Jerry to actually _explain_their escape plan when they almost ran face first into a walking corpse, dull rolling eyes staring at them. Charlie reached for his sledge-hammer but was interupted by Jerry cracking open his toolbox and with remarkable aim, braining the creature with three well throw spanners, catching them as they spun back to his hand.

"Ptoo, this old man's still got some crack in his whip. Nasty ghoulies, just like Roger used to describe" Jerry glanced back to Charlie and Jack with a confident gaze, "Last time I was at Roger's house a couple of these monsters stumbled up the road from the town, we had a heck of a time putting 'em down. It's how I invented some of my tools"

As if to illustrate this, a few more ghouls appeared and gave Jerry time to rummage in his toolbox in a flurry of movement and extract a device. It looked like a space-age ray-gun, a giant rotating blade at the front and with a war-cry of  
>"To Spaaace!"<br>Jerry pulled the trigger and a blast of air blew all three ghouls up into the sky to disappear in a twinkle. Turning to seek the appraising looks of his fellows, Jerry was a little put out to see Charlie staring in slack-jawed terror and Jack nodding his head appreciatively.

"You can't just blow the monsters away! They'll just turn up somewhere else!" Charlie shouted, waving his arms in understandable agitation

"But they aren't _here_" Jerry explained helpfully

"I understand the concept it's just... ahhh, forget it, look where's your ship? I assume we need to get one to leave and if zombies are turning up it's probably a sign we've been here too long" He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was still worried that he was attracting all these beasts just by being near the party.

If he'd brought this down on Akihabara he'd never forgive himself.

Jerry seemed to take this well as he shrugged and said they needed the ladies first, to which Jack helpfully pointed out Kaede had been fighting 8 zombies to their left for some time. Charlie did not take this news as being all that helpful.

With a loud crunch of skull on mallet, Charlie swung and grinned as he bowled one of the monsters away from Kaede. She used the opening to toss several sheets of spell-paper into the air. Light blue glows from the paper flashed as the remaining zombies were all struck by ice and promptly fell apart.

Breathing heavily, she nodded to Charlie and Jack before looking quizically to Jerry.

"Ahh, right, him. He's our ride out of here, he says he can go faster than the American planes so we can outrun them. His names-"

"Jeremiah Tarquin Bernstein at your service, madame" Jerry bowed deeply, removing his swirly eyed glasses to expose deeply intelligent, twinkling blue eyes. Kaede seemed puzzled by this and bowed in return.

"Kaede Abe, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr Bernstein"

Charlie wanted to point out all of Jerry's flaws now (re: He spent all his time in a maid cafe, only came with them at the promise of girls and had blown a bunch of zombies somewhere out over the islands of Japan) but his inner peacemaker reminded him that they needed him alive and getting Kaede to murder him wouldn't help.

"Where's Dawn? I wish to ask her views on steamed broccoli" Jack tapped his pumpkin on the chin as he said this

"Vegetable related insanity aside, I'm curious too, didn't her and Yuri follow you out here?"

"No, I told them to stay behind although I feel... uneasy" Kaede glanced to Charlie and that brief exchange of eye contact conveyed all they needed to know. They both felt something was wrong and if both of their instincts were smelling a rat...

They took off running for the hotel, pursued by Jack shouting something about greenery and Jerry complaining about his hip quietly so Kaede wouldn't hear him. Bursting into the hotel, they discovered they were too late. Slashes across the walls and furniture told them they were too late. Punching his fist against the door-frame Charlie hung his head as he tried to think of a means to help them...

-\ -o- /-

The wash of tides slowly caused Dawn to open her eyes, sitting up awkwardly as she did and groaning at the faint throbbing headache at the back of her skull where she'd been hit. Glancing around the area, she saw no sign of her captor but was quick to identify where she was.

She was tired to a mooring on a dock, concrete support lay under her and great steel cruisers armed to the teeth with weaponry stood above her; the faint glow of the setting sun illuminated the area in a dim orange light and sparkled off the ocean as she struggled to break free of her bonds.

All this movements caused her fellow kidnapped victim to rouse as he sat up, coughing somewhat. Dawn glanced across and recognised it was Yuri she was looking at. Smiling, she was about to ask how he was until she noticed the dull crimson stains on the ropes where he was sitting.

Panic shot through her as she realised Yuri had three large cuts across his body and was obviously in a good deal of pain. He looked across to her and caught her eye as the first glints of panic started to show and with obvious effort grinned to her

"Don't worry, I'm fine, just a few scratches" he coughed, unfortunately dismissing the illusion he was fine "Are you alright, Dawn?"

"I'm fine, but Yuri we need to get you to a doctor those cuts-"

"Are nothing, the one who kidnapped us... he could have killed me but didn't. I have no idea who or what he is but if we fight him again I'm sure I won't survive" Yuri's grave words seemed to spur Dawn into staying very still and saying nothing while her older ally thought of an escape plan.

"If I transform, I can break these ropes, but he's almost guaranteed to be watching. Worse than that, he did something to me so I don't think I'll be able to stay transformed long if I manage it at all"

Dawn kept her mouth shout, chewing her lip as she glanced for some sign of escape. She still couldn't work out exactly why they'd been brought back here until her eyes caught one of the names of the ships docked besides them. The Alexandra.  
>An American vessel.<br>Whoever had kidnapped them was going to send her to the people chasing after her.

-\ -o- /-

"You're certain this will make it in time?" Kaede asked, her eyes looking increasingly doubtful at the pile of scrap they were now looking at. Jerry chuckled raucously and rapped his pride and joy with a bony knuckle.

"She may not run on water like _some_people's aircraft, but the Hyplubion is faster than any 'Bacon Jet'" Jerry grinned at them, while simultaneously hoping none of them could test his theory that was quite obviously false.

Usually, Charlie would be the one to point out such a discrepancy but without a word he jumped onto the ship and sat down, looking impatiently at the others.

It was worrying for Kaede, if he wasn't in his stable state of mind then fusion would be dangerous, he could lose control. Neverthless, she followed him on with Jack bringing up the rear, shivering wildly as he sat down. Jerry smiled and scurried aboard his proud flying machine, switching his glasses for a proud pair of goggles lacking the spirals and revealing the fierce glare in his eyes

"Off we goooo!"

-\ -o- /-

The clomp of boots was enough to spur Dawn to redouble her efforts trying to fray the rope on the concrete they were tied to. Yuri said nothing, seeming to save his energy as four soldiers appeared flanking a familiar looking man with a top hat

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss Tyler! Did you miss me?" Heart lightly flicked at his gloves as he asked the question, his smile still stretched thin. He was aggravated that Spade had been the one to catch them but it wasn't like they didn't all benefit.

Club and Diamond had both agreed to it, as had the boss, so why did he feel like [i]he[/i] was the one indebted to Spade for the help?

Shrugging, he indicated that Yuri should be untied and with great reluctance, two of the soldiers with him gingerly loosened the knots tying the harmonixer to the mooring. As the ropes fell slack, Yuri managed to raise himself up, noticing his lack of sword he raised a quizical eyebrow

"Spade kept it, said it would be a nice memento" Heart drawled, clearly unimpressed.

"And why have you freed me? You expect me to run and leave her to you?" He was trying to stand in the way of Heart and Dawn, the soldiers themselves looked uncertain, a cut up man and a girl were hardly call for a military escort for a VIP...

"No, but you see your face pisses me off. All of us, actually, but due to a strange little contract I have first dibs. I'm the weakest of our family but I have to be first." Heart smiled as a magical glow surrounded his hand, Yuri didn't wait to see what he did.

There was a rush of air, similar to Charlie's transformation but the pressure felt much greater to Dawn. She hid her face as the air cracked around Yuri and revealed his new form.

It looked almost feminine, crimson arms and legs, orange wrapped softly around it's shoulders, it glared at Heart with unrestrained malice as it pointed a single finger. Almost instantly a beam of fire shot from the sky and threatened to incinerate the magican as he fought through the flames.

The soldiers opened fire but they two were unsuccessful, the bullets burning into molten slag in the air and impacting meaninglessly as they were absorbed into the boiling flesh of Yuri's transformed state.

A brilliant flash of light emitted from the fusion monsters hands and blasted the soldiers off the dock and into the water, blinded by the raw heat and light. The flames surrounding Heart died out now as he walked forward, a blue glow of bubbles surrounding him as he smiled

"Amaterasu? I'd heard stories. I guess you are related to him. Which makes what I'm about to do so much more satisfying" producing from under his top hat a strange curve of silver, Heart placed it on his face.

It was a fish shaped mask, an odd cup like shape at the top with two fins falling from either cheek. His smile was hidden by the new mask as he laughed to himself

"Yee hee hee hee, I haven't gotten to wear this face in so long-" Heart's rant was interupted by a sudden boom of air as a gigantic metal shape appeared in the sky. It was roughly shaped as an oval, but with two long wings sticking out of it at the sides and two more on the top and bottom giving the whole thing a fish like shape.

At the front was a propeller, at the back a large engine belcing flames and lining the bottom a series of intermittent propellers and burners to keep it afloat. This was Jerry's finest creation, the Hyplubion. It did not look very impressive.

From the rear of the craft, Charlie stood ready, the wind rushing past his head as Kaede and Jack tried to spot where they were looking for. Yokohama was a big place but it seemed they'd correctly deduced where they were and even with the headstart, Jerry had caught up with them.

Seeing Dawn, Charlie yelled out to her which caught the attention of Heart. His joy almost threatened to overflow, he could kill both of them? Well that was just amazing! Taking advantage of his mistimed glee, Yuri attacked with a flash of flame and light as Heart began dodging and swerving the attacks.

Charlie from his position in the Hyplubion could see the fight but his main concern was still Dawn. Feeling this strong emotion of care in his chest, Charlie felt himself fusing and a feeling of peace rushing over him as he turned into a Light Element creature.

Diving from the Hyplubion as he changed, Charlie felt wings spreading from his legs as they changed into feathery wings, fluttering to move him as his torso remained relatively unchanged but bleached pearly white, his hair now electric blue.

He landed in a burst of air from his wings as he hastily sliced through the ropes binding Dawn and even the concrete under them with his bare hands. Dawn leapt into his arms, wrapping hers around his neck as Charlie took off back to the Hyplubion  
>"<strong>Yuri! We have to go!<strong>" Charlie shouted, looking down at his fellow Harmonixer just as Yuri's transformation broke.

Whatever Spade had done to him, Yuri couldn't keep fighting and was now panting on the ground, Heart standing over him as Charlie floated in the air  
>"No! We have to help him Charlie we have-"<p>

"Anjou!" Yuri bellowed, his eyes locked on Heart as he advanced "Keep her safe. No matter what, you have to stop the Four Mas-" Yuri's final words were silenced as Heart sliced his arm and decapitated the noble young warrior. Dawn screamed, reaching out for him but there was nothing they could do.

Charlie was frozen for a moment, he didn't know what to do, but Kaede's voice brought him back as he heard  
>"Charlie! Get your ass back on the ship!"<br>Tearing his eyes away, Charlie beat down with his wings once more and landed on the rear bay of the Hyplubion as it sealed shut, Dawn's tears flowing into his chest as he returned to human form.

The Engines hummed and even as Heart tried to fire a spell at them the ship was rocketting away leaving him to watch as the sun finally sunk beneath the horizon proper, night time truly setting in with the darkness.

While they may have lost the Key, they knew where she'd be going. They'd come to America now, land of the free, trying to find them for revenge or some nonsense. Heart felt his smile widen as he took off his mask.

They were only getting started.

* * *

><p><strong>The Party so Far<strong>

(active party)

**Charlie Anjou  
><strong>Role: Harmonixer  
>Element: Dark<br>Weapon: Sledgehammer

**Jack O'Connagh  
><strong>Role: Pumpkin King  
>Element: Fire<br>Weapon: Frowny face Radish

**Kaede Abe  
><strong>Role: Taoist  
>Element: Water<br>Weapon: Crimson Ink

(On the Hyplubion)

**Dawn Tyler  
><strong>Role: Unknown  
>Element: Neutral<br>Weapon: BB Beretta

**Jerry Bernstein  
><strong>Role: Air Wizard/Engineer  
>Element: Wind<br>Weapon: Basic Toolbox

**Yuri Inugami**

The son of Kurando and Anastasia, tragically cut down by the wizard Heart once he began to wear his mask again. His fusion form Amaterasu is a counterpoint to his fathers, while it used primarily light attacks it was also in posession of fire element abilities. The pendant he gave to Kaede is one he inherited from his father who claimed to have found it in Wales.


End file.
